AA claims complete control of Maungdaw

By Admin 09 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 December 2024, Maungdaw

The Arakkha Army (AA) says it has taken control of the entirety of Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan State after capturing the military regime’s Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5 on December 8.

Fighting continues in Maungdaw Township as junta soldiers fleeing Border Guard Force Battalion No. 5 are being hunted down by the AA, according to the ethnic armed group.

The AA has also arrested Brigadier-General Thurein Tun, commander of the 15th Military Operations Command, along with dozens of troops under his command.

The AA announced that it had indefinitely banned navigation in the Naf River as of 3 p.m. on December 8, as Muslim armed groups fighting alongside junta soldiers are attempting to escape in boats via the river, which forms part of the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The Maungdaw region is significant not only militarily and economically, but also symbolically. The regime fought fiercely to prevent Maungdaw from falling to the AA, which assailed junta positions in a months-long battle for control of the border township.

“The AA has seized the Maungdaw region in northern Arakan State, which is very important for trade, diplomacy, and militarily, and has thus been a great help in resolving Muslim issues,” said lawyer U Kyee Myint, a political analyst.

Control of Maungdaw will likely yield both military and economic dividends for the AA, as well as benefiting Arakan State residents who have suffered for more than a year under a junta blockade and restrictions on movement.

The military regime currently only has full control over Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Manaung in Arakan State, with the towns of Ann, Taungup and Gwa also in danger of falling into AA hands soon.

“The AA has already said that it will attack and capture every town in Arakan State. So, according to its military strategy, the AA will attack each town one by one. Now that the AA has captured Maungdaw, it will focus more on capturing Sittwe,” U Pe Than, a military and political analyst, told DMG.

The AA has seized more than 10 battalions in Ann Township, as well as control over more than half of Arakan State’s 17 townships, and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.

With the AA’s offensive gaining momentum, the regime’s Ann-based Western Command could soon fall, military and political analysts predict.