Military Reinforcing Heavily in Ayeyarwaddy, Division Commanders Themselves Stationed to Prepare for Offensive

In Ayeyarwaddy Region, over 500 soldiers have been deployed in the past three days, and troop deployments to border checkpoints adjacent to southern Rakhine State are accelerating, it has been learned. The arriving forces are primarily being deployed to the Bayar Gyi checkpoint on the outskirts of Thapaung Township and the Ye Gyi Kanba Gyi military checkpoint, which is equipped with heavy artillery and where the division commander himself is stationed. "They are preparing to attack Rakhine by any means necessary. They are proceeding with the idea that even a small gain is a gain," a source monitoring military movements told the Ayeyarwaddy Times. On July 28, approximately 100 soldiers arrived in Settaung Gyi in three military trucks and moved towards the Bayar Gyi area to the west. On July 29, a convoy of seven military trucks carrying approximately 200 soldiers and supplies arrived, it was learned. Furthermore, on the morning of July 30, approximately 200 soldiers arrived in Settaung Gyi in six military trucks and proceeded to the Kanba Gyi checkpoint from there, according to sources. It has been learned that the military is using barges, military vehicles, and carts of conscripted local residents at night to transport and collect weapons, ammunition, and supplies, in order to prevent information leaks while preparing for such offensives. Military sources stated that the special preparations for military operations in the Rakhine-Ayeyarwaddy border area, to the extent that division commanders themselves are stationed there, are intended for an offensive into southern Rakhine State and also to reinforce troops for the recapture of lost checkpoints.