Arakan Army captures junta naval base on Myanmar’s west coast

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > The Arakan Army (AA) says it has taken full control of Rakhine State’s Thandwe Township after capturing the Myanmar military’s Maung Shwe Lay Navy Base late last week. The base, officially known as the Central Naval Diving and Salvage Depot, first came under attack on August 7. It is located between the villages of Maung Shwe Lay and Kwin Wying. “After a nearly month-long offensive, the Arakan Army finally captured the Myanmar navy base at around 6pm on September 5,” the group in a statement released the following day. It added that it succeeded in taking the base despite coming under heavy fire from ground, air, and navy forces. Thandwe Township has a population of around 130,000 and includes some of Myanmar’s most famous beach resorts, most of them owned by military generals and their cronies. The AA launched a state-wide offensive in November of last year as part of Operation 1027, which has seen the regime lose control of wide swathes of northern Shan State. There were around 1,200 junta troops stationed at the base when the conflict started, according to the AA. More than a third were killed in the fighting, the group claimed. The rest fled and were reportedly redeployed to other battlefields. Most of the dead and injured were taken away by navy ships to Ayeyarwady Region, which borders Rakhine State to the south, but some bodies were left behind and had to be buried, the AA statement said. Photos released with the statement show AA soldiers in front of the base as well as captured weapons and a helicopter that was also seized. In retaliation for its losses, junta troops based in Sittwe, the state capital, launched a series of attacks on Friday targeting neighbouring Pauktaw Township, which is controlled by the AA. Several civilians were injured and a number of houses were damaged in those attacks, according to reports. On Monday, local media outlet Narinjara quoted AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha as saying that around 20 people, including children, healthcare workers, and prisoners of war, were killed by airstrikes on Pauktaw on Sunday. Another 15 were injured, he said. With the capture of Thandwe, the AA now has 10 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships under its control, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State. Meanwhile, fighting continues in Maungdaw, in the state’s north bordering Bangladesh. Maungdaw and neighbouring Buthidaung, which was captured by the AA in May, are both populated mainly by Rohingya Muslims. Tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled since the conflict started, and the AA has been accused of killing Rohingya civilians as it attempts to take control of northern Rakhine State towns. Myanmar’s military has a long history of exploiting tensions between the state’s ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities as part of its “divide and rule” strategy to neutralise its opponents.

Arakan Army captures junta naval base on Myanmar’s west coast

It is the first time in its history that Myanmar’s military has lost control of a major naval installation

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