Arakan Army seizes Maungdaw

The Myanmar insurgent group Arakan Army (AA) has taken complete control of Maungdaw Township, Myanmar junta's last stronghold in area bordering Bangladesh.

According to a report of The Irrawaddy, Arakan Army took complete control of Maungdaw Township on 8 December.

The ethnic army reported that it captured the junta's last remaining border stronghold, Border Guard Police Battalion No-5, located outside Maungdaw town after several months of fighting.

The AA stated that it was attacking the junta regime and allied Rohingya militia from the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) as they fled the base.

Rakhine media reported that the AA arrested Brigadier General Thurein Tun, commander of Military Operation Command 15, along with regime troops including about 80 Rohingya insurgents, following the battle for Maungdaw.

The ethnic army launched the Maungdaw offensive in late May, taking six months to gain complete control of the township.

According to The Irrawaddy report, the AA now claims control of all three Myanmar townships bordering Bangladesh – Maungdaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine State and Chin State's Paletwa, which also borders India.

A military analyst monitoring the fighting in Rakhine said restoring trade with Bangladesh would help ease the plight of people living in the western state.

Two million people in Rakhine face looming famine, the UN reported last month.

The junta has blockaded roads and waterways leading to the state, blocking deliveries of food, fuel and medicine, including international humanitarian aid.The analyst added that the Bangladesh government must engage in meaningful dialogue with the ethnic army if it wanted to solve the complex Rohingya issue in Rakhine State.
The AA is now fighting for control of Gwa, Taungup and Ann townships in southern Rakhine.