Junta forces abandon nearly 40 outposts on first day of AA’s Arakan State offensive

By Admin 14 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
14 November 2023, Sittwe

Many junta soldiers and police in Arakan State withdrew from their posts on Monday, the first day of renewed fighting in Myanmar’s westernmost territory, to join bigger bases as part of a defensive strategy not easily distinguishable from retreat. Nearly 40 outposts were abandoned, according to the Arakan Army (AA).

The AA attacked junta positions in at least five locations in Rathedaung, Maungdaw and Minbya townships on Monday, seizing the Donpaik border guard police outpost in Rathedaung. It seized another border guard police outpost in Cheinkalein on Tuesday morning.

Political analyst U Than Soe Naing said: “The AA has a military advantage in Arakan State. So in a short period of time, [junta troops] withdrew from their bases or surrendered before the fighting took place. I think more junta troops will surrender.”

More than 10 junta soldiers were killed in clashes in Minbya Township, and 10 junta soldiers including a deputy battalion commander holding the rank of major and a captain from the Sittwe-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 344 were captured, said the AA.

In fighting with the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 232 near Thinbawhla Village in northern Maungdaw Township, more than a dozen junta soldiers including their deputy commander were killed and others were injured, said the AA. A junta private and weapons were seized.

Twenty-two police officers from the Apaukwa police station in Apaukwa Village, Kyauktaw Township, surrendered with their weapons. Six police constables from two other police units also surrendered with their weapons.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance, of which the AA is a member, has told junta soldiers and police of Myanmar’s military regime in Arakan State to surrender or be killed.

In a warning issued on Tuesday, the ethnic alliance told junta personnel to contact their nearest AA bases immediately and surrender “if they don’t want to die and want to see their families and relatives” again.