Regime Airstrikes Kill 5 More Civilians as Rakhine Counteroffensive Falters

A house destroyed in a regime airstrike on residential targets in AA-controlled territory in Rakhine State last week. / AA Info Desk

At least five more civilians were killed in Rakhine State last week as the Myanmar regime continued to strike residential targets.

The deadly airstrikes came as the regime reportedly suffered heavy losses in its Operation 4926 counteroffensive to retake the strategic townships of Ponnagyun and Ramree from the ethnic Arakan Army (AA). Ponnagyun guards the approach to the state capital Sittwe while Ramree hosts the China-backed Kyaukphyu special economic zone and deep sea port.

The AA reported that two residents were killed and three injured, including a nine-year-old girl and an elderly woman, when a regime fighter jet bombed their village in Ponnagyun on Sunday. The attack followed a suicide drone strike on a monastery sheltering displaced people in Ponnagyun’s Kyaukseik village that killed one woman and injured her daughter at midnight on Friday.

Further south in Taungup Township, a 59-year-old male resident was killed and another injured when two junta fighter jets bombed their village on Saturday. The attack also destroyed two homes and livestock.

In neighboring Gwa Township, an 85-year-old male resident was killed and another injured when warplanes bombed Kyeintali town on Thursday. The airstrike also destroyed nine homes.

Meanwhile, a regime airstrike on AA-held Paletwa in Chin State destroyed homes and vehicles on Saturday.

A religious site in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun town destroyed by junta fighter jets on September 4, 2026. / PYA

Wai Hun Aung, an ethnic Rakhine writer and charity head, said the regime is targeting civilians in a deliberate strategy to pressure the AA.

“The attacks are aimed at disrupting AA administration while destroying territory [lost by the regime],” the writer said.

The AA controls 14 of the 17 townships in Rakhine and is pushing to seize the capital Sittwe along with Kyaukphyu.

The regime has responded with aerial and naval strikes on Gwa, Thandwe, and Ponnaygun, where civilian death tolls are mounting.