Western Command in emboldened AA's crosshairs

By Admin 10 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
10 December 2024, Ann

Fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakkha Army (AA) is intensifying as the ethnic armed group conducts an offensive to capture the Western Command headquarters in Arakan State's Ann Township, according to a military source close to the AA.

As AA forces press their advantage, the regime is defending one of its last and strongest footholds in Arakan State with aerial support.

"The military's Western Command is being attacked by the AA. Junta soldiers dare not go outside the Western Command," said another military source.

The regime relied on airstrikes in clashes with the AA and dropped 500-lb bombs on the ethnic armed group's positions on Monday.

The Western Command is militarily, economically and symbolically important for the regime. The fall of the Western Command to the AA would mark the second loss of such a high-level command, after the North Eastern Command in Shan State's Lashio was seized by anti-regime forces in July. The capture of the Western Command would also give the AA a significant advantage on the Arakan front.

"The regime has lost all credibility on the international stage, and China will have to reconsider its support for the regime. If the Western Command in Ann falls into the hands of the AA, it will be like crushing a militarily arrogant army," lawyer U Kyee Myint, a political analyst, told DMG.

The AA has captured 11 townships in Arakan State over the past year, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State, since the latest fighting with the Myanmar military began in November 2023.

The ethnic armed group has declared its intention to take full control of Arakan State, and analysts believe given the pace of its territorial gains over the past 12 months, it just may do that within the next year.