Myanmar military commander among dozens captured by Arakan Army in Maungdaw

A senior military commander was among dozens of junta troops and Rohingya militia members captured during the fall of the regime’s last outpost on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on Sunday, according to the Arakan Army (AA). Brig-Gen Thurein Tun, who heads the junta’s Military Operations Command 15, was apprehended while fleeing as the AA seized the Border Guard Police (BGP) 5 outpost in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township after nearly two months of fighting, the group said in a statement issued on Tuesday. In a video released with the statement, the general and other captured officers can be seen in their uniforms, kneeling in front of a row of shirtless, lower-ranking soldiers. All of the prisoners appear to have their arms tied behind their backs, as AA troops stand guard behind them. The statement also refers to other groups accused of fighting alongside Myanmar’s military, including the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Rohingya Salvation Organisation (RSO), and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA). “Along with Brig-Gen Thurein Tun, Capt Wai Lin Aung, and other high-ranking personnel, there were members of the RSO, ARSA, and ARA” among the captives, the AA said in its statement, adding that a large cache of weapons and ammunition was also seized. The video, which is a compilation of shorter clips, also shows the battle for control of the BGP-5 outpost. In one scene, an AA soldier can be heard shouting through a loudspeaker: “This is your last chance. We will give you 20 minutes to come out, and then we will do what is necessary.” Later, AA soldiers fire several rocket launchers at the outpost from a short distance away. “Aim at the top floor and middle,” shouts an AA soldier. “It’s beautiful,” he says, as the building starts to burn. As a barrage of rocket-launcher and machine-gun fire continues to target the outpost, a fighter jet appears and begins raining bombs down on the site. When the battle is finally over, the AA troops enter the outpost, where they find the bodies of dead junta soldiers lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Those who survived the onslaught can be seen pouring out of the outpost, most with their hands raised. Some hold up pieces of white styrofoam to signal their surrender. Among them are many who appear to be the ethnic Rohingyas. According to Aung Kyaw Moe, the deputy human rights minister for Myanmar’s anti-regime National Unity Government (NUG), Thurein Tun played a key role in forcibly recruiting many Rohingyas in to the military to fight the AA. In a Facebook post, he accused the general of stoking ethnic division in a bid to retain control of northern Rakhine State, where the Rohingya make up the majority of the population. “Thurein Tun is responsible for inciting racial tensions, both by forcing Rohingya youths to fight, and by recruiting Rohingya criminals, gangs, and traffickers,” he wrote. According to the AA, over 450 junta soldiers were killed during the 55-day offensive to take Maungdaw. The group also praised its own troops who were killed during the intense battle. “To implement the Arakan Dream for the people of Arakan, the AA is launching relentless offensives,” the group said, referring to Rakhine State by its more traditional name. The AA now control most of the state, apart from its capital Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, the site of a major Chinese-backed port development project. It is currently engaged in fierce fighting in Ann, Taungup and Gwa townships, in the central and southern parts of the state. According to a United Nations report released last month, Rakhine State is at risk of famine due to the collapse of its economy amid the ongoing conflict, which began with the start of the AA offensive in November of last year. As its grip over the state continues to slip, the regime has severely restricted travel and cut off most means of communication, adding to the hardships of local civilians, according to the report.

Myanmar military commander among dozens captured by Arakan Army in Maungdaw

Many of the other prisoners were members of Rohingya militia groups, some of them forcibly recruited to fight the AA

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