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 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.

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.