Myanmar: Arakan Army seizes key Maungdaw town, takes full control of border with Bangladesh

Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic minority group, the Arakan Army, on Tuesday, took full control over the last army outpost in the town of Maungdaw.

By seizing the strategic western town of Maungdaw, the Arkan Army has captured the 271-kilometer-long border with Bangladesh.

The capture by the Arakan Army completes the group’s control of the northern part of Rakhine state and marks another advance in its bid for self-rule there.

A spokesperson to the Arakan Army, Khaing Thukha, broke the news about Maungdaw’s capture to The Associated Press and said that the outpost commander Brig. Gen. Thurein Tun was captured while attempting to flee the battle.

The Arakan Army said Sunday it had ordered the suspension of transport across the Naf River because police and local Muslims affiliated with the army were attempting to escape by boat to Bangladesh.

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What is the Arakan Army?

The Arakan Army or AA is the military wing of the ethnic Rakhine community and was founded and led by former student activist Twan Mrat Naing in 2009.

The rebel group recruited some of its first fighters among men working as jade miners. The army sought shelter with the Kachin Independence Army in northern Myanmar.

In 2019, AA attacked four police stations on Independence Day in the Rakhine state which prompted Aung San Suu Kyi to order the military to “crush” the “terrorists”. However, the two sides reached a ceasefire later.

Why is the Rakhine state important?

Rakhine has become a focal point for Myanmar’s nationwide civil war, in which pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed forces seeking autonomy battle the country’s military rulers, who took power in 2021 after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since November 2023, the Arakan Army has gained control of 11 of Rakhine’s 17 townships, along with one in neighboring Chin state.

Ann, a town in Rakhine that hosts the strategically important military headquarters overseeing the western part of the country, appears to be on the verge of falling entirely to the Arakan Army.

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With inputs from AP