In push to control northern Rakhine, Arakan Army captures junta bases in Maungdaw, Buthidaung townships

The Arakan Army (AA) overtook two key military bases in northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships this week, the ethnic armed organisation said in a Tuesday statement. After being surrounded for weeks by AA troops, around 100 junta soldiers trapped in the Tamin Thar police station in Maungdaw reportedly surrendered to the ethnic armed organisation on Monday, allowing the group to seize the site. On the same day, after a month of attacks, the AA captured the base of the military’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 552 in neighbouring Buthidaung. The victory came “amid the Myanmar junta’s heavy offensives by land and air,” the AA said on Tuesday, adding that its members had seized a cache of ammunition and taken surviving Myanmar army soldiers into its custody. The group is still searching for troops that escaped the offensive. According to locals, six military bases remain in Maungdaw, located in or near the villages of Kyein Chaung, Kyi Kan Pyin, Myo Thu Gyi, Mawrawaddy, Inn Din, and Alethankyaw. In its statement, the AA said it would next attempt to take over the Kyein Chaung border outpost, over which it claims to already have partial control. The AA is attempting to seize Buthidaung and Maungdaw by blocking military access to the townships administrative centres, and has deployed a similar strategy in the state capital of Sittwe, where the junta has tightened security and increased inspections on local households in an attempt to crush support for the AA. At around 10pm on Monday, police officers and soldiers arrested 15 locals from their homes in Sittwe’s Mingan and Kandawgyi wards, detaining them at the No. 2 police station, residents told Myanmar Now. “They threatened to shoot the people if they ran away,” a man from the area said. “They fired shots three times at around 12:30 at night.” Those that tried to flee were worried about being forced to join the military, he added. On Sunday, two locals said that a 65-year-old Thein Shwe Maung, a former administrator from Sittwe’s Ma Gyi Myaing ward was arrested with five of his family members, including two adult daughters, one adult son, a son-in-law, and a 19-year-old granddaughter. Their condition and whereabouts, as well as the reason for their detention, were not known at the time of reporting. Residents of Sittwe are afraid that fighting will soon reach the state capital but are under close surveillance by the military and unable to seek refuge elsewhere. “For those who remain in the town, leaving is impossible because [the military] is closely watching the gates 24/7,” another resident said. The AA has captured Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakhine State, Ramree in southern Rakhine, and Paletwa in Chin State. The armed group has also increased its movements in the state’s southern townships of Taungup, Ann, Kyaukphyu, and Thandwe, according to locals.

In push to control northern Rakhine, Arakan Army captures junta bases in Maungdaw, Buthidaung townships

The ethnic armed group aims to force the military out of Rakhine State’s two northernmost townships

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