Myanmar’s junta loses another town to Arkan Army in Rakhine State

The Arkan Army (AA) captured Rathedaung town in Rakhine state after driving the last troops from three junta battalions out of the town on the weekend, the ethnic army said, The Irrawaddy reports.

It seized three separate infantry headquarters – from light infantry battalions 536, 537 and 538 – outside the town on Sunday evening after two weeks of intense fighting, with the last 200 junta troops fleeing the riverside town north of the state capital Sittwe by boat, it said.

The junta had used Rohingya soldiers recruited under the conscription law activated last month to defend the strongholds, the AA said.

The junta’s military also bombed the area by land, sea and air in a failed attempt to prevent the AA from taking over the town.

The AA said it found bodies of regime soldiers, including recently recruited Rohingya men, as well as weapons and ammunition left by fleeing junta soldiers.

The ethnic army said it had also stepped up its efforts to seize the headquarters of junta Light Infantry Battalion 552 in nearby Buthidaung Township.

It has seized more than half of Rakhine State since it launched a large-scale offensive to drive junta troops out of the state in Nov. 13 last year. It controls six of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and had has captured three towns, including Rathedaung, in townships it does not yet fully control.

The AA also has complete control of Paletwa Township in the south of neighboring Chin State.

It has captured about 180 military bases, including command centers, from the junta since last November.

The junta’s military has responded to its battlefield losses by attacking civilians and inflicting other war crimes, the Arakan Army said. Junta troops have also destroyed civilian infrastructure. They have bombed schools, hospitals, religious buildings and bridges.

Junta troops have been accused of executing and gang raping civilians in Rakhine State.