AA seizes junta engineering battalion, checkpoint in Ann Twsp

By Admin 04 Nov 2024

DMG Newsroom
4 November 2024, Ann

The Arakkha Army (AA) captured a junta engineering battalion and a security checkpoint on November 2 in Arakan State's Ann Township, where the Myanmar military's Western Command is based, according to military sources.

The AA had already taken control of the military's Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 373, a military intelligence unit, a medical corps, and a junta artillery battalion on Kulaung Hill over recent days.

"The AA seized control of the military's Engineering Regiment No. 919 and Pelpadon security checkpoint on November 2. Fighting between the AA and military is escalating," said a military source.

A fierce clash between the AA and military broke out near the Pelpadon security checkpoint as the ethnic armed group hunted down the junta soldiers withdrawing from Engineering Regiment No. 919 and the Pelpadon security checkpoint on November 2.

The AA and allied forces have encircled Ann Town, and the regime has increasingly resorted to air attacks to defend against the AA's offensive onslaught, according to sources.

"Fierce clashes erupt in Ann. If the AA can capture LIB 371, there is a position where the ethnic armed group can penetrate downtown Ann," said a military source on the ground.

The deputy commander of the Western Command in Ann left the base for Magwe on October 8 amid escalating AA attacks, with some junta soldiers deserting to the ethnic army.

The Ann-based Western Command is of both strategic and symbolic importance for the regime, which is not likely to cede it without a spirited defence, according to analysts.