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Ethnic minority insurgents captured a major military base in western Myanmar on Friday after months of fighting, the group said, the latest major set-back for the junta that seized power in 2021.
The Arakan Army, or AA, took complete control of the military’s Western Command headquarters in the town of Ann, in Rakhine state, the group said.
“At around 12 in the afternoon we managed to completely capture the whole headquarters,” AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha told Radio Free Asia.
He gave no information about casualties but said AA fighters had captured two senior officers identified as Brig. Gen. Thaung Tun and Gen. Kyaw Kyaw Thant.
Junta soldiers who had managed to flee from the base were being pursued, he said.
A spokesman for the military was not immediately available for comment.
On Wednesday, the AA released drone video footage of the base showing buildings in ruins, with roofs shattered by artillery and fires burning and smoke rising. The video also contained footage of scores of captured men, hands tied, marching in a line with white flags of surrender.
The AA, one of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgent groups, is fighting for self-determination in the western-most state.
It has made unprecedented progress over the past year, capturing 13 of the state’s 17 townships and pushing the military into a few pockets of territory.
The junta is desperately reinforcing its troops in three of the five remaining townships it controls – Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Munaung – to repel expected AA attacks, residents said this week.
Kyaukphyu is particularly important for the junta as China is developing a port there and it also has energy facilities there including oil and gas pipelines that run across Myanmar to Yunnan province.
The junta appointed a new minister of defense, Gen. Maung Maung Aye, on Tuesday. State media did not give a reason for the change but it comes after a series of defeats for the army this year, not only in Rakhine state but throughout the country.
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Fighting in Chin state
Separately, in Chin state, to the north of Rakhine state, insurgents have made significant advances, capturing large parts of two major towns, including one near the border with India, a rebel group said on Friday.
Fighting in Chin state since the army seized power in 2021 has forced thousands of villagers, many of them Christian, into India where Hindus say their presence is complicating communal tensions there.
In the latest battles, the Chin Defense Force insurgent group and allied fighters seized military and police strongholds, administrative offices and other buildings in the towns of Mindat and Falam, the group said in a statement.
The group said 123 junta soldiers had surrendered in Mindat and 45 had surrendered in the town of Falam, about 170 km (106 miles) to the north.
Falam is about 40 km (25 miles) from the border with India.
RFA tried to contact Chin state’s junta spokesperson, Aung Cho, for comment but he did not respond.
A Mindat resident said junta forces were holding out in some places and the military was launching air strikes. A junta blockade aimed at cutting supplies to the insurgents had made life very difficult, said the resident, who declined to be identified for safety reasons.
“We’ve had so much trouble, food has become scarce. It’s become difficult to buy even a little rice so now we grow it on the mountain,” the resident said.
A Chin human rights worker said the military was likely to retaliate against the insurgents’ advances.
“When ethnic rebels win victories like this … they bomb, shoot and launch heavy weapons at schools, religious buildings and hospitals,” said Chin Human Rights Organization Managing Officer Salai Man Hre Lian told RFA.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.