The Rakhine-based Arkan Army (AA) claims to have taken full control of Paletwa Town in neighboring Chin State after seizing all Myanmar junta strategic bases and command centers following two months of fighting.
The offensive launched on Nov. 13 had seized all 24 junta positions in Paletwa as of Sunday, including Light Infantry Battalion 289 headquarters from where junta brigadier generals commanded all bases in the township, the AA said.
The headquarters was also a logistics base for all military outposts on the borders with India and Bangladesh, the ethnic army added.
AA troops also arrested junta Brigadier General Zin Myo Swe, chief of Operations Command Center 19 (MOC-19) based in Mon State, after his forces were defeated in Paletwa Township, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
The brigadier general was captured on Friday, a day after he fled an AA attack. The AA has so far issued no information about his arrest.
The military regime’s power and administration had now been eradicated from all of Paletwa, the AA said.
However, it warned residents to be on the alert for junta forces – either individuals or groups – who may still be in the township after fleeing their bases.
AA chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing issued a warning to junta troops on Monday.
“Raise the white flag early if you don’t want to die or get hurt. If you want to flee [your] junta bases, get permission first to use escape routes,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
He also warned: “Don’t request permission to flee while guns are being pointed at your heads and your three-fence bases are being occupied. Otherwise you will be treated as prisoners of war.”
Paletwa lies less on the Kaladan River, which is part of a US$ 484-million transport project funded by New Delhi. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project aims to connect India’s Northeast and Myanmar via the Bay of Bengal.
Paletwa town had a population of about 64,000 according to the 2014 census.
The Arakan Army said it had also managed to seize the junta’s Meewa hilltop base near the border of Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township and Chin’s Paletwa on Saturday after four days of attacks.
The same junta base had withstood 42 days of AA attacks in January and February 2020.
On Sunday, the AA captured Artillery Battalion 377 based in Kyauktaw Township as well as the Risoe Chaung strategic base in Rathedaung Township, Rakhine after it was abandoned by regime forces as AA troops advanced.
AA troops also clashed with a fleeing military unit that had abandoned bases in Maungdaw township on Sunday, killing 20 combatants and seizing their weapons and ammunition.
The AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance of three ethnic armies, which launched the anti-regime Operation 1027 in northern Shan State on Oct. 27. The alliance has since captured around 16 towns and about 500 junta bases, including several military operations command centers, as well as vital trade routes with China.
The AA on Nov. 13 expanded Operation 1027 to Rakhine State and southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township, where it has now seized over 150 junta bases.
