Arakan Army fully captures Myanmar junta’s western HQ in Rakhine State

The Arakan Army (AA) took full control of the Myanmar junta’s Western Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Rakhine State’s Ann Township on Friday, according to a spokesperson for the group. “Today, December 20, at around 12pm, the AA took full control of the Western Military Regional Command headquarters,” the AA’s spokesperson, Khaing Thukha, confirmed to Myanmar Now. During the offensive, the group managed to capture Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Than and also Brig-Gen Thaung Tun, two junta commanders who were in control of the Western RMC.The dramatic development comes just two days after the group captured Taungup, south of Ann Township, and as it continues to push junta troops from Gwa, a frontier town on Rakhine State’s border with Ayeyarwady Region. The successful liberation of Ann and other recent gains put the AA in almost full control of Rakhine State. The junta retains only the capital, Sittwe, the port town of Kyaukphyu, and Manaung Island. Founded in 2009, the AA is composed of mostly ethnic Rakhine Buddhists waging a war for greater autonomy. Its current chief, Twan Mratt Naing, and deputy chief, Dr. Nyo Twan Aung, have been vocal about their goal of completely liberating Rakhine State from the Myanmar military. According to military analysts, the AA deploys about 30,000 troops. The group began its bid for control of Rakhine State in November of last year as part of Operation 1027, an offensive launched in northern Shan State the previous month by its Brotherhood Alliance partners, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.In July, the MNDAA took control of the Northeastern RMC headquarters in Lashio, northern Shan State’s largest city. The group, which now holds key border trade towns on the China-Myanmar border, has halted fighting with the junta under Chinese pressure.Over the past year, embattled regime troops have faced a series of humiliating defeats in Rakhine State, losing one township after another to AA forces. Earlier this month, the junta also lost control of Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh following the fall of its last border outpost in Maungdaw Township. The fall of the Western RMC headquarters in Ann is an even greater blow to the regime, depriving it of a vital crossroads linking Rakhine to neighbouring Magway and Bago regions. In the days leading up to the capture of the RMC headquarters, the AA released a series of videos showing defeated junta troops surrendering, underlining the regime’s increasingly desperate position in the state. In one video, an AA soldier can be heard urging holdouts to give up, promising their security and an end to their suffering: “We won’t do anything to you. You will be safe and will soon be able to see your families.”Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Gwa Township, where the stakes are also high for the regime, according to Phe Than, a political observer closely associated with the AA. “If Gwa were to fall, the fighting between the allied forces and the junta could potentially spread across the border into Ayeyarwady Region,” said Phe Than, speaking to Myanmar Now on Friday.

Arakan Army fully captures Myanmar junta’s western HQ in Rakhine State

The AA confirms that it has captured the regime’s Western Regional Military Command in Ann Township, liberating the majority of the state from junta forces

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