YANGON, Myanmar, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – A Myanmar ethnic armed group has launched attacks on security force outposts in the west of the country, local media reported Monday, as the junta struggles to beat back fighting in the north.
Arakan Army (AA) fighters later seized border guard bases near Rathedaung in western Rakhine state, local media cited an AA spokesman as saying.
The AA has for years fought a war for the autonomy of the state’s ethnic Rakhine population in their home near the Bangladesh border.
A spokesman for the group did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
Security forces had blocked all road and river traffic around Maungdaw, north of Rathedaung, a resident told AFP.
Richard Horsey of the International Crisis Group said: “If combat persists, it will open a significant new front for the regime.”
The AA is also fighting alongside two other ethnic armed groups in northern Shan state, bordering China, where the military has admitted to losing ground, including a border trade hub.
The AA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) say they have captured dozens of military outposts in their joint offensive.
Analysts say it is the most significant military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.
An MNDAA spokesman told AFP on Monday its forces had captured the town of Kunlong in Shan state on Sunday, where a strategic bridge crosses the Thanlwin river.
Li Jiawen said he did not have information about casualties during that fighting.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told state broadcaster MRTV that troops had left Kunlong but that it had been part of a “strategic retreat”.
Clashes between the AA and the military in 2019 displaced more than 200,000 people across Rakhine state, home to around one million people.
