Arakan Army Steps Up War Against Junta in Myanmar’s Rakhine State With Attack on Naval Base

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The Irrawaddy
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By Hein Htoo Zan
 January 9, 2024
Arakan Army Steps Up War Against Junta in Myanmar’s Rakhine State With Attack on Naval Base

Danyawaddy Naval Base in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu Township.

Myanmar’s junta faced a second day of attacks on its main naval base in the south of Rakhine State on Tuesday after the Arakan Army – which announced Monday it was escalating attacks on junta troops in coordination with allies in the western state – seized junta outposts in two northern townships of the western state over the weekend.

The ethnic army launched its first-ever attack on Danyawaddy Naval Base in Kyaukphyu Township – south of the state capital Sittwe – with rocket fire on Monday.

The army continued its assault on Tuesday morning, after fierce fighting yesterday, it said.

Clashes also broke out in Ramree town on Madae Island, which is adjacent Kyaukphyu Township, today. A company owned by Aung Pyae Sone, the son of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, is building a submarine port with foreign companies inside the naval base.

In northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township, the AA captured a junta outpost at about 9 p.m. on Saturday after its more than 200 troops surrendered. It had been attempting to seize Taung Shay Taung outpost since Dec. 25 in coordination with allied resistance groups.

Arakan Army troops in Taung Shay Taung outpost yesterday. /Arakan Army

Junta jets provided air support to the troops in the outpost near Tin Ma village for several days, but they were unable to hold it.  The AA said dozens of junta troops waved white flags after its fighters breached the bunkers around the base.

Troops from the junta’s 9th Military Operations Command and Light Infantry Division 55 had been stationed at Taung Shay Taung before it fell.  On March 13, 2020, troops inside the outpost arrested and killed 18 male residents of Tin Ma village before incinerating the 700-home village.

The AA is also stepping up its fighting against junta troops in northern Rakhine’s Mrak U Township, where it seized another junta outpost at about 5 p.m. on Sunday.  It said it seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition when it captured Kyittaw Taung outpost.

In a statement released yesterday, the army also admitted for the first time that it is coordinating with the other resistance groups in its battle against junta troops in Rakhine State, and across its northern border with China State in Paletwa Township.

Chin State-based Maraland Defense Force also said it was coordinating with the AA to track down junta troops who had fled bases and outposts they had been stationed at.

When AA seized Chin Let Wa outpost in Paletwa Township on Jan. 2, at least 90 junta troops reportedly fled to jungle areas.

The AA said it had already taken control of all junta posts in western Paletwa Township and that it would continue fighting in the township until it could declare it a “junta-free-zone.”