AA concludes first officer training course held inside Arakan State

By Admin 03 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 July 2023, Sittwe

The Arakan Army (AA) has completed its first training course for officers inside Arakan State, the Information Department of the ethnic armed group said on Monday.

A total of 326 officers participated in the training course at an undisclosed location in the state, the AA said. It began on November 1 of last year and ended on June 19, 2023, with a ceremony.

The training was organised with a view to turning out good soldiers that can lead the AA in the future, and good military leaders imbued with martial prowess and emotional intelligence, said the AA.

Two previous training courses were held in an area of Kachin State controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

The first training course was opened to a total of 138 participants on April 10, 2018.  The AA could not conduct officer training courses as planned due to the military and political situations and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the armed group.

The AA plans to organise a fourth training course early next year. 

The AA runs a parallel administration complete with a judicial and tax revenues department in Arakan State. It was established by 26 young people on April 10, 2009, at the KIA’s headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State. The Arakanese armed group has since grown to an army of more than 30,000 troops, according to AA chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing.