The ethnic Arakan Army (AA) has captured a strategic junta hilltop base in Mae Taung near Western Military Command headquarters in Rakhine State’s Ann Township.
The rebel army on Tuesday said it attacked and seized several hilltop bases near the Mae Taung strategic bases since Sept. 26 after a siege that lasted for weeks.
On Monday, its troops captured the last remaining Mae Taung strategic base at Ann, 14 km northwest of the Western Military Command HQ, it said.
The junta deployed at least six light infantry battalions in its failed attempt to defend the bases, and AA troops were able to seize a large haul of weapons and ammunition when they captured the bases.
In response to the losses, the junta conducted aerial bombardments on civilian targets in Tan Hlwe Ywar Ma Town under AA control in nearby Taungup Township, the AA said.
Rakhine media outlets reported that 16 civilians were killed and at least 10 others injured in the airstrikes and most residents have now fled the town.
The AA said it has blocked two military battalion headquarters and other bases in Taungup and continues efforts to take complete control of the junta strongholds.
The remaining regime forces retreated to Gwa from Kyeintali Town area on Monday after a week of fighting, it added. The junta retreat came after AA troops seized junta bases at Kine Khon village and at nearby Kantkaw mountain.
Regime forces blew up a major road bridge across on the Kyeintali stream on Monday before retreating to Gwa.
The AA also said it is still trying to seize the last remaining junta’s border guard base at Maungdaw near the Bangladeshi border while countering what it called “terrorist attacks” by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), which are fighting with regime troops, in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in northern Rakhine State.
On Sunday, AA troops clashed with ARSA and RSO troops in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Township, seizing an ARSA camp as well as weapons and ammunition that were provided by the junta, the ethnic army said.
The following day, an AA fighter was killed in an ambush by ARSA forces while army troops were searching for two missing residents near a village in Buthidaung.
The AA is a member of Three Brotherhood Alliance that launched successful anti-regime Operation 1027 in northern Shan State in October last year. They have now taken control of most of northern Shan State, seizing around 25 towns and townships including the capital Lashio and vital trade routes with China.
The AA has also taken control of most of Rakhine State, seizing over 10 towns and townships since expanding the operation to western Myanmar in November last year.
