Amidst a backdrop of escalating conflict near the Rakhine-Bago border, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing visited Pandaung Township on 8 January 2026, to lobby residents and local officials ahead of the second phase of the junta’s general election.

Speaking at a meeting with township-level elders and departmental personnel, the junta leader urged voters to support candidates who “can work with the military” and called for a concerted effort to ensure high voter turnout for the upcoming polls on 11 January.

The high-profile visit comes as Pandaung Township becomes a central battleground between the military and a coalition led by the Arakan Army (AA).

Fighting has recently intensified for control of the strategic Point-666 hill camp, a vital outpost along the route to the Rakhine Yoma. On 4 January, AA commandos reportedly ambushed a military convoy in the Nyaung Gyo area, killing over a dozen soldiers, including Colonel Han Lin Aung, the commander of Military Operations Command 10 (MOC 10).

Local defence groups report that the junta forces at Point-666 are currently under siege and facing severe shortages of food and water, relying almost entirely on air support for survival.

Pandaung Township, which hosts weapons manufacturing facilities known as Ka Pa Sa including Ka Pa Sa 5, Ka Pa Sa 6, Ka Pa Sa 9 and Ka Pa Sa 16, remains a fiercely contested area as the military seeks to retain control, and is among the townships set to participate in the second round of elections scheduled for 11 January.

Fighting is continuing in neighbouring parts of Bago Region, including Nattalin, Zee Kone and Min Hla townships, where local revolutionary forces launched coordinated attacks on military bases on 7 January.

The junta has announced that elections will take place in 100 townships, including 12 in Bago Region, on 11 January. The phased polls will skip 65 of the country’s 330 townships, leaving nearly 4,000 wards and village tracts outside the areas where voting will occur.