By The Irrawaddy
The Arakan Army has captured 10 more junta camps in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw in less than two weeks, killing about 200 junta troops including a strategic commander during battles to capture the township, the ethnic army said.
The ethnic army has targeted junta military camps and border guard police positions in the township’s south after seizing northern Maungdaw last month.
It launched a large-scale attack on Maungdaw town in late May following its capture of Buthidaung town. Both towns are located in northeastern Rakhine State near its border with Bangladesh. The people who live in the area are predominantly Rohingya.
In an announcement on Friday, the Arakan Army said it has seized four more junta camps this week, including the Mawyawaddy tactical command base and Na Khaung To camp on Thursday.
During the battles, its forces killed Colonel Tayzar Htay, strategic commander of Mawyawaddy, and about 200 junta troops.
It also seized the well-known junta camp Ah Lel Than Kyaw located at an entry point to the township on Wednesday night after launching an attack on the camp in the afternoon. About 200 junta soldiers and border guard personnel were at the camp before the attack and many reportedly retreated to other bases.
The junta’s military used airstrikes and artillery shelling to defend both Ah Lel Than Kyaw camp and Mawyawaddy tactical command base.
In the first week of this month, the Arakan Army captured six junta bases, including Border Guard Police Battalion No. 9 near Myint Lut village on the Maungdaw-Agnumaw Road and the headquarters of Border Guard Police Battalion No. 6 in Inn Din village where Myanmar military soldiers massacred 10 Rohingya people in 2017.
The ethnic army said it will continue attacking junta targets in Maungdaw, Ann and Thandwe townships. Ann is in central Rakhine and Thandwe is in the state’s south.
The Arakan Army also said on Friday that it has taken more prisoners of war and continues to search for junta troops who fled instead of surrendering.
At least 28 more defeated junta troops fled across the border to Bangladesh from Maungdaw, Bangladeshi officials said on Thursday.
This latest influx came just days after more than 130 Myanmar security personnel and their family members who previously fled fighting were repatriated from Bangladesh last Sunday.
The Arakan Army has taken control of more than half the Rakhine State – nine of its 17 townships – since launching an offensive against junta positions in the state in November of last year. The army has also taken control of neighboring Paletwa Township in Chin State.
Rakhine is Myanmar’s westernmost state. The 640-kilometer-long state is on the western fringe of Southeast Asia. It faces the Bay of Bengal and is separated from the rest of Myanmar by a range of mountains on its eastern border.
source : The Irrawaddy