Arakan Army says it is close to taking full control of Maungdaw

Myanmar’s military launched multiple airstrikes on the northern Rakhine State town of Maungdaw on Sunday, as the Arakan Army (AA) claimed it was on the verge of taking full control. According to a local source, junta fighter jets carried out repeated bombings of Maungdaw late Sunday as the AA moved closer to capturing the town.“There were airstrikes from 4pm to 7pm. I hear that the military is now in control of only one position—the base of Border Guard Police Battalion 5,” the source said. In a press statement released on Monday, the AA reported that it has surrounded regime forces in Maungdaw’s Ward 2, as well as in the villages of Pe Zi and Maung Ni, where Rohingya militia groups aligned with Myanmar’s military are also stationed.The AA announced over the weekend that it captured a police station in Maungdaw last Friday. Eight police officers, including a captain, surrendered with their weapons, the group said. The day before, the AA took 36 junta personnel prisoner, according to a statement released on Saturday. “Maungdaw will soon be fully under the control of the Arakan Army,” the statement added. The AA has since taken additional prisoners of war both within and outside the town. It also reported that it had buried around 100 bodies belonging to both junta forces and Rohingya militias.In a video released by the AA, shirtless prisoners, presumably junta soldiers, can be seen wading through a muddy paddy field with their hands bound behind their backs.The fighting in Maungdaw has drawn significant international attention since early August due to reports of mass casualties among the local Rohingya population.One incident saw up to 200 people killed in a single attack, which Rohingya activists have blamed on the AA. The group has denied the charge. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, have faced ongoing persecution in predominantly Buddhist Rakhine State for decades. In 2017, military operations forced around 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh.More recently, the military has armed three Rohingya militant groups—the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, and the Arakan Rohingya Army—in an effort to counter the AA’s offensive. The AA has been advising residents of Maungdaw to evacuate since June 16, when it launched its offensive on the town. In a statement released on August 18, the group accused those who remained of supporting the regime or the Rohingya armed groups.However, a Rohingya native of Maungdaw now in Bangladesh reported that most who stayed have been blocked from leaving by the regime, while some fear losing their homes. The AA claims to have evacuated more than 20,000 civilians from Maungdaw, but residents who reached AA-controlled areas are said to be in urgent need of food and medicine. “Food is extremely scarce, and there is a severe shortage of medicine. With a dysentery outbreak worsening the crisis, they are in a desperate situation,” said a Rohingya man who fled to Bangladesh. The AA is also fighting to capture the town of Kyeintali in southern Rakhine’s Gwa Township and is nearing control of Thandwe Township to the north of Gwa. Currently, it is attacking the Maung Shwe Lay naval base, the junta’s last base in Thandwe. Since beginning its state-wide offensive in November of last year, the AA has captured Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, and Ramree townships in Rakhine State, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State.

Arakan Army says it is close to taking full control of Maungdaw

The regime has responded with airstrikes as its forces and allied groups suffer heavy casualties in recent fighting

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