The Arakan Army (AA) has seized complete control of Myanmar’s 270-kilometer-long border with Bangladesh after capturing Maungdaw Township on December 8.
The ethnic army reported that it captured the Myanmar junta’s last remaining border outpost, Border Guard Police Battalion No 5, located outside Maungdaw town, after several months of intense fighting.
Rakhine has become a focal point for Myanmar’s nationwide civil war, in which pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed forces seeking autonomy battle the country’s military rulers, who took power in 2021 after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Sunday, the AA said that it was attacking the regime and allied Rohingya militia from the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa), and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) as they fled the base.
Rakhine media reported on December 9 that the AA arrested Brigadier General Thurein Tun, commander of Military Operation Command 15, along with regime troops including about 80 Rohingya insurgents, following the battle for Maungdaw.
However, Myanmar’s military government did not immediately comment.
The ethnic army launched the Maungdaw offensive in late May, taking six months to gain complete control of the township.
Since November 2023, the Arakan Army has gained control of 11 of Rakhine’s 17 townships, along with one in neighboring Chin state.
The AA now claims control of all three Myanmar townships bordering Bangladesh – Maungdaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine State and Chin State’s Paletwa, which also borders India.
A military analyst monitoring the fighting in Rakhine told The Irrawaddy that restoring trade with Bangladesh would help ease the plight of people living in the western state.
Two million people in Rakhine face looming famine, the UN reported last month.
The junta has blockaded roads and waterways leading to the state, blocking deliveries of food, fuel, and medicine, including international humanitarian aid.
The analyst added that the Bangladesh government must engage in meaningful dialogue with the ethnic army if it wanted to solve the complex Rohingya issue in Rakhine State.
The AA is now fighting for control of Gwa, Taungup, and Ann townships in southern Rakhine.
Cox’s Bazar Desk/DT-AP
