Myanmar junta struggles in Rakhine as Arakan Army gains ground

August 12, 2024

The Arakan Army (AA) pressed forward with its offensive in Rakhine State, advancing to Gwa Township, where they launched attacks on junta forces positioned at a checkpoint near a bridge in Chinkwin village, Kyeintali sub-township, The Irrawaddy reports. Around 70 junta soldiers and militia members were positioned at the checkpoint, located 48km south of Thandwe […]Continue Reading

Myanmar’s army emptying Rakhine villages to boost defenses against rebels

July 11, 2024

Myanmar’s military has been emptying villages on the outskirts of the capital of the western state of Rakhine as part of an evident effort to defend against expected attacks by a powerful rebel group that has captured most of the surrounding area, according to residents, a local activist group and media reports on Tuesday, AP […]Continue Reading

AA troops surround last Myanmar junta base in Maungdaw, Rakhine

July 4, 2024

Arakan Army (AA) troops have entered Maungdaw town in Rakhine State after seizing all junta positions including border guard police bases north and south of the town, sources close to the AA told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. The only junta presence left in Maungdaw Township is Border Guard Police Battalion 5 in Myo Thugyi ward […]Continue Reading

Rohingya minority in firing line as rebels attack western Myanmar town

July 3, 2024

NEWS DESK It was soon after afternoon prayers at a mosque near western Myanmar’s Maungdaw town last month that 45-year-old Abdur said he looked up and spotted a drone hovering above. It was armed. “Within seconds, there was an explosion, and I lost consciousness,” said the bearded farmer, asking only to use his first name […]Continue Reading

Indian blockade isolates Myanmar’s Rakhine, pressures Arakan Army to leave Chin State

June 29, 2024

Central Young Lai Association, an Indian civil society organization based in Mizoram, has blockaded the trade route used to import goods from India to war-wrecked Rakhine State through Chin State’s Paletwa Township to pressure the Arakan Army (AA) into leaving Chin State, The Irrawaddy reports. The blockade further isolates Rakhine, which is already suffering from […]Continue Reading

Fighting intensifies on Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh

June 8, 2024

Fighting has intensified along Rakhine State’s border with Bangladesh in southern Maungdaw Township as the Arakan Army (AA) attacks border guard police positions to seize the entire township in the state’s northwest, residents of the township say, The Irrawaddy reports. They said the ethnic army is targeting border guard police positions in the township’s south […]Continue Reading

Myanmar junta kills eleven Rakhine villagers: Residents

June 2, 2024

Myanmar’s junta reportedly killed 11 civilians and destroyed 100 houses during a raid on a village near Rakhine State’s capital, Sittwe, on Wednesday night, The Irrawaddy reports. All Byian Phyu villagers were forced into a field and the houses were searched for evidence of Arakan Army (AA) support. The group is deploying around Sittwe. Around […]Continue Reading

Rohingya forced to fight alongside Myanmar Army tormentors

May 29, 2024

Rohingya mother Sofura Begum has spent years in a squalid refugee camp after fleeing Myanmar. Now her teenage son has been taken to fight alongside the troops that put her there, AFP reports. Militant Rohingya groups in Bangladesh have forcibly recruited hundreds of young Rohingya men and boys to battle the Arakan Army (AA), a […]Continue Reading

Some 45,000 Rohingya flee amid allegations of beheading, burning in Myanmar

May 29, 2024

Escalating violence in conflict-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine State has forced another 45,000 minority Rohingya to flee, the United Nations warned, amid allegations of beheadings, killings and burnings of property, reports Al Jazeera. Clashes have rocked Rakhine State since the Arakan Army (AA) rebels attacked forces of the ruling military government in November, ending a Continue Reading

Myanmar rebel group claims control of town, denies targeting Rohingya

May 19, 2024

A powerful armed ethnic group in Myanmar said on Sunday it had won control over a town in the western state of Rakhine after weeks of fighting, denying accusations it had targeted members of the Muslim-minority Rohingya during the offensive, Reuters reports. Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA), said its soldiers […]Continue Reading