AA details capture of last junta stronghold in Maungdaw

11 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
11 December 2024, Maungdaw

The Arakkha Army (AA) announced that it took full control of Maungdaw Township on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on Sunday.

The AA defeated Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5, the last junta battalion defending Maungdaw, at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, seizing control of the entire Maungdaw Township despite a junta defence that included army, navy and air forces.

The AA besieged the battalion for months before launching an offensive on October 14. The battle lasted about 55 days, making it the longest battle for control of a junta battalion in Arakan State.

More than 700 junta troops were deployed at the battalion located in Maungdaw's Myothugyi Ward. The battalion was heavily fortified, with double fences made of barbed wire and trenches between the fences, according to an AA statement on Tuesday.

The Trenches were as much as 20 feet wide at some points and filled with spikes, the AA said, adding that there were more than 20 large bunkers and over 100 smaller bunkers inside the battalion.

A creek flows in front of the battalion, posing a natural barrier for AA troops. AA troops advanced inch by inch to attack the heavily fortified battalion, the statement said.

The AA said it cleared more than 1,000 M14 landmines planted by the regime during the battle, and some AA members sacrificed their lives and limbs to remove those mines.

Junta troops who fled from other towns near Maungdaw joined Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5 in the battle. The regime also used heavy air support. More than 450 junta soldiers were killed in the fighting, and numerous weapons and military equipment were seized from them, the AA said.

Junta officers including Brigadier-General Thurein Tun, commander of the 15th Military Operations Command based in Buthidaung, dozens of junta soldiers, members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Rohingya Solidarity Organisation and Arakan Rohingya Army, as well as Muslim conscripts were captured in the battle.

AA troops are pursuing junta soldiers who have fled from the battalion.

Maungdaw is crucial for the AA to win diplomatic recognition and control of the border trade. The AA commended its troops for their gallantry and sacrifice during the battle for control of Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5.