The ethnic Arakan Army (AA) on Thursday said it took control of Taungup town in southern Rakhine State on Nov. 24 after a 17-day battle.
The AA launched the offensive on Nov. 4 and seized some dozen regime bases in and outside the town until Nov. 20.
On Thursday, AA troops reportedly captured Light Infantry Battalion 346 outside the town, seizing a haul of weapons after 10 junta soldiers raised the white flag.
Local media said the battle for the junta’s Military Operation Command No. 5 and the remaining Light Infantry Battalion 544 outside the town has intensified.
Before launching the offensive, the AA encircled Taungup, blocking all access roads to military traffic, and evacuated most residents.
Embattled regime forces looted homes in the town, and some houses were destroyed in junta airstrikes, the ethnic army said. When AA troops marched in they detained several looters.
The rebels said they are also continuing efforts to seize Gwa town as well as Ann, where the regime’s Western Military Command Headquarters is located, while trying to defeat the last remaining headquarters of Border Guard Police Battalion No. 5 outside Maungdaw town near the Bangladeshi border.
Local media reported that the junta used fighter planes to defend the besieged police stronghold, while naval boats attempted for several days to evacuate trapped regime forces.
Clashes were also reported outside Gwa town in the deep south of Rakhine as AA troops were approaching. Citing Gwa residents, media reported that AA troops defeated junta reinforcements sent from nearby Ayeyarwady Region, killing nearly 60 troops.
A viral video purportedly recorded by an AA soldier shows over 30 regime troops lying dead along a forest trail, and the videographer can be heard saying that 58 were killed.
Frequent clashes are also being reported in mountainous areas along the Ann-Padan Road on the border between Rakhine State and Magwe Region as local resistance groups attempt to prevent junta reinforcements and supplies from reaching Ann town.
The Student Armed Force (SAF) on Thursday said it and two other resistance groups on Tuesday jointly ambushed a regime unit led by major Zaw Htet Naung on a section of the Ann-Padan Road while they were retreating from their outpost.
Resistance forces killed two soldiers, arrested 14 others, and seized weapons and ammunition, the SAF said.
The AA seized at least eight junta battalion bases during the battle for Ann town, but around 10 junta positions including two combat bases remain.
The AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which launched the successful anti-regime Operation 1027 across northern Shan State in October last year, seizing most of northern Shan including the capital Lashio.
The AA then expanded the operation to its home state in November last year and has seized 12 of Rakhine’s 17 townships as well as Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State.
