Internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled fighting in Kyaukphyu Township and were sheltering near the Peinhne Mountain Range in Ramree Township, Arakan (Rakhine) State, are once again on the move after renewed fears of further junta airstrikes.
Residents said the junta carried out airstrikes in areas around the Peinhne Mountain Range on 28 May and 1 June, killing and injuring at least 12 people, including both local villagers and IDPs.
Since the attacks, aircraft and drones have continued to circle overhead, creating a climate of fear that has forced many displaced families to flee again because they no longer feel safe.
“The Arakan Army (AA) helped move some of the IDPs, while others had to relocate using their own money. Yesterday, people were moving all day long. We went around collecting lunch boxes donated from Ramree Town and nearby villages to feed them,” a woman in Ramree told DMG.
Thousands of residents from more than 30 villages in Kyaukphyu Township—including Yaynantaung, Minpyin, Kyaukpyaung, Zaichaung, Thinechaung, Chaungmyaung, Mawgyi, and Kyaungthin—are currently sheltering in the forested areas around Mount Peinhne.
Locals said the junta appears to be deliberately targeting areas where displaced civilians have gathered, despite no active fighting taking place at those specific sites.
“This wasn’t a combat zone. There’s no way the junta’s reconnaissance planes and drones didn’t know that IDPs were living there. The regime intentionally attacked even though they knew it was an IDP site,” an IDP in the area said.
Meanwhile, fighting between regime forces and the Arakan Army (AA) remains intense near the Taungmawgyi naval station in Kyaukphyu Township, with frontline sources reporting heavy casualties on the junta side.
Mount Peinhne lies about six miles in a straight line from the current frontline, and residents said the junta has increasingly been striking civilian-populated areas as it faces military setbacks on the ground.
“The Kyaukphyu IDPs have been forced to move from one place to another repeatedly. Whenever a place becomes unsafe, they have no choice but to relocate once more. For some, this has already happened four or five times. I hope the international community will take action by any means against the junta, which is the root cause of this suffering for the people,” said a woman in Kyaukphyu involved in social relief work.
Fighting in Kyaukphyu Township continues daily. As the junta struggles to make territorial gains, it has stepped up air and naval attacks instead.
As a result, civilian casualties continue to mount, with at least 170 people killed or injured in Kyaukphyu Township over the past year.
