The Arakan Army (AA) has seized control of most wards of Maungdaw, the last junta-
controlled frontier town in northern Rakhine State, bordering Bangladesh, after months of attacks, residents say.
The ethnic army first attacked Maungdaw Township in early June, after capturing two other towns – Rathaedaung and Buthidaung – in northern Rakhine in March and May respectively.
The AA launched attacks on junta positions in and around Maungdaw town, including a border guard police battalion in Myo Thu Gyi ward, on August 4 and has since seized three other junta positions – east, south and north of the town. The attack launched on August 4 occurred after the AA captured key junta positions in Maungdaw Township.
The regime turned the border guard police battalion in the town’s Myo Thu Gyi ward into a fortress after the AA captured the headquarters of the 15th Military Operations Command in bordering Buthidaung Township as well as junta positions in rural Maungdaw, the ethnic army said.
Rohingya militia groups, such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) and Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) as well as Muslim conscripts are fighting alongside regime troops in Maungdaw, the AA said.
It said it had rescued more than 2,000 civilians, including staff of international humanitarian agencies and their families, from Maungdaw town.
One Maungdaw resident said: “The AA has been rescuing [ethnic] Rakhine, Hindu and Muslim civilians trapped in Maungdaw town. It is fair to say the AA has seized control of most wards in the town.”
The regime has launched continuous airstrikes and shelling during the fighting in Maungdaw town, residents said. Hundreds of junta soldiers fled the town on August 14 after the AA used drones to bomb junta positions, they added.
“All the junta soldiers in Maungdaw town have fled, but some ARSA troops remain in Muslim wards,” one resident said.
Writing on social media, Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin said junta troops had fled Maungdaw town. “Only some families who are injured and can’t walk are left in the town,” he wrote, adding: “Muslim families trapped in the town have hung white flags on their homes.”
The AA reported clashes in at least four locations, including downtown Maungdaw and entrances to the town, on August 15 and 16. Many junta personnel, including some Muslim conscripts, were killed in the fighting, the AA said.
It said it warned civilians on June 16 to leave the town, but some ignored the warning and remained. Others left in the town are “junta stooges,” members of the ARSA, RSO and ARA and their families, and civilians detained by the regime for use as human shields, the AA said.
Maungdaw Township borders Buthidaung to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, Rathedaung Township to the south and Bangladesh to the north.
