(Translated staff post from the MYANMAR NOWMEDIA on 30 April 2025.)
The victorious Arakan Army (AA) has already
liberated 14 townships of Arakan State and one township in Chin State and now
is opening massive war-fronts in three administrative division of Pegu, Magway,
and Irrawaddy, all divisions geographically adjacent to the Arakan Ranges (the
Yakhine Yoma).
After last-year capturing of Gwa town on the border
of Irrawaddy Division and Arakan State three war columns of AA supplemented by
allied PDF Irrawaddy troops are now marching deep into the Irrawaddy Delta the
rice bowl of Myanmar. The first column is now attacking the Myanmar Army
positions around the Lay-myet-hnar Town, while the second column is reaching
the Ngar-thaing-chaung Town, and the third column is heading towards Thar-baung
Town.
The Gwa-NgarThaingChaung Road is the principal route from Arakan to Irrawaddy and it pass-through the Lay-myet-hnar town. Apparently the rapidly weakening Myanmar Army facing all sorts of enemy all over the country has been withdrawing from the front lines around Lay-myet-hnar as AA and allied PDF troops advanced rapidly towards the town.
Laymyethnar Township is a township of Hinthada
District in northern Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. The only town and principal
town is Laymyethna. The township borders Yegyi Township and Kyonpyaw Township
of Kyonpyaw District to the south, Gwa Township of Rakhine State to the west
and Ingapu Township of Myanaung District to the north. To the east, it borders
the rest of Hinthada District, bordering Hinthada Township. The township has
one town with five wards and 43 village tracts grouping together 284 villages.
History: During the conquest of Hanthawaddy Mon
Kingdom by King Alaungpaya, the Konbaung troops discovered a stupa with four
gates pointing in the cardinal directions originally constructed by Mon King Binnya
Dala. The Burmese named it Laymyethnar (literally, Four Faces) Pagoda.
Geography: Laymyethnar Township lies on the
Irrawaddy Delta and is centred around the Ngawun River, which runs north-south
through the township. 21 of the town's village tracts lie to the east of the
township, which is densely populated flat lowlands, and the remaining 22 village
tracts lie in the hilly foothills of the Arakan Mountains to the west of the
Ngawun.
The Laymyethna Forest Reserve covers 44% of the
township with 112,550 acres (455.5 km2) of protected state-owned forest
covering the township's western half. 2,602 acres (10.53 km2) of this area is
reserved for hardwood forests, cultivating economically important teak and
Pyinkado trees.
The township has additional forested areas, mostly
west of the Ngawun, containing various trees including padauk and bamboo
forests. These preserved forests are home to various fauna like wild hogs, guar,
deer and monkeys.
The township is located on the extreme-south of the
Rakhine-Chin-Naga ranges where sediment-hosted stratabound deposits formed in
the volcanic-sea water interface. Of interest to the economy, are copper
mineralization deposits that formed in the area.[4]
Demographics: Total populations of 108132 in 2023. The
township is overwhelmingly rural with, in 2023, only 2.9% of the population
living in the singular town of Lemyethnar. According to the 2014 Myanmar
census, 44.9% of the township used a bicycle for daily travel, with 33.7% using
some form of animal-driven cart for daily travel. Only 5.0% of the population
primarily used electricity to light their homes with only 0.1% of the
population having a flush toilet and a further 78.2% of the population an
enclosed sceptic tank or system.
In 2023, the township experienced depopulation,
losing a little over two thousand people between 2022 and 2023. The majority
religion is Buddhism with 98.0% of the population adhering to it and the
majority ethnic group are Bamar people.[1]
Economy: The township is seeing a lack of economic
growth when compared to others in Ayeyarwady Region. The primary industry of
the township is agriculture with rice being the overwhelming crop transported
out through the township's waterways and roadways to larger markets like
Hinthada, Pathein and Yangon.
The township is home to significant copper
deposits. The stratabound copper deposits in the township form Cyprus-type
copper alongside gold deposits, which contribute to the township's mining
industry. The township has 11 industrial granaries and 43 combine harvesters.
There is also a significant forestry industry, with teak logging managed by the
government. The township has a total of 2,765 acres of non-teak private-managed
forests.
The
Lay-myet-hnar offensive began in early Mrach and the rebel forces
simultaneously attacked the villages of Wut-kone, San-kone, Tone-taw, and
Shan-taw-suu. Despite the daily aerial bombings by Myanmar Air Force, Myanmar
Army troops finally gave up the fights and pulled back to the Pan-daw-gyi village at only five miles away
from the town.
But on 17-April, Myanmar Army troops had to
withdraw back into the town as AA had intensified their attacks on the
Pan-daw-gyi Village despite heavy artillery and aerial attacks from Myanmar
Army and Air Force.
“In April-17-night (the final day of Water
Festival) AA raided the village and the Army withdrew. They loaded their heavy
guns on the 8-wheeler-trucks waiting and ran. So many Myanmar Army soldiers
were killed just outside the village,” said one local from Pan-daw-gyi.
He then added that Myanmar Airforce then bombed the
village on April-18 as their usual practice after losing a significant
position, and out of 500 households more than half including the village
Buddhist monatery were durned down, and from April-18 to April-29 Myanmar Air
Force jets came and bombed the village daily and basically wiped out their
village.
The Myanmar Army troops fleeing from the Pandawgyi are
now taking positions on the west bank of Nga-wun River across from the
LayMyetHnar Town. There had been thousands of war refugees fleeing the area as the
battles continued.
AA’s Thar-Baung Ofensive
The Third Column of AA has also been attacking the
Myanmar Army’s 308th Light Infantry Battalion inside Thar-Baung
Township, and also 344th Artillery Battalion inside Yay-Kyi
Township. AA’s strategic aim clearly is to control the crucial road between Gwa
in Arakan State and Ngar-Thaing-Chaung in the Irrawaddy Division.
Myanmar Army has responded by completely blocking
the West Bank of Nga-Wun River by Cut-Four-Cuts operation. People are allowed
to transport only a week ration of rice and cooking oil per person and fuels
such as petrol and diesel are totally prohibited.
Myanmar Army is even forcefully recruiting new
soldiers into the 5th Training Battalion at Ingapu Town as some AA
troops are already at 24 miles from Hianthada City which is the second biggest town
in the Irrawaddy Division.
The Irrawaddy Delta is the rice bowl of Myanmar and losing Irrawady Division will starve the rest of the country within a few months and the Dictator Min Aung Hlaing will fall as soon as the rice stores are depleted. Bye, bye, Motherfucker!
