AA relaunches bid to seize military’s Ann-based Western Command

By Admin 18 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
18 July 2024, Ann

Fierce fighting has been reported near Ann, Arakan State, after the Arakkha Army (AA) launched an offensive against the Myanmar military’s Ann-based Western Command on Wednesday.

The AA resumed its targeting of the Western Command, the largest military garrison in Arakan State, on July 17.

“Previously, the AA launched an offensive assault, but halted the fighting due to the regime’s aerial support. The AA resumed an offensive attack yesterday. Fighting between the military and AA is intensifying,” a military source said on Thursday.

The AA attacked the military’s Western Command and its Tawhein tactical command base in Ann Township at the end of March. The ethnic armed group seized the Tawhein tactical command base on June 23.

The regime set up five military outposts along Mt. Mel, between Kyeinchaung and Khamaungdaw villages, to defend its Western Command headquarters against the AA onslaught. The AA has reportedly launched a coordinated assault on the five military outposts as part of its renewed offensive.

The regime is again responding to the AA attacks with airstrikes and artillery support as it mounts a defence of the strategically important Western Command.

“Junta troops from the Western Command fired artillery shells and provided aerial support during the fighting,” said the military source.

The AA has cut off the Ann-Padan road and other land routes that have been used by the regime to send reinforcements to Ann Township.

The Western Command, Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 371, 372, 372, a general engineering corps, a battlefield engineering corps, a medical corps and weapon units are all based in Ann Township.