Burma's Arakan Army Claims Capture of Military Command Post, Captures Hundreds of Soldiers

The Arakan Army, an ethnic rebel group fighting against Burma's military junta, has reportedly seized Operational Command No. 15 headquarters and taken hundreds of soldiers prisoner. The military's offensive against ethnic minorities has escalated since the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government.

The Arakan Army, a prominent rebel group fighting against Burma's military junta, has claimed to have captured hundreds of soldiers after seizing Operational Command No. 15 headquarters in Buthidaung. The move marks a significant advance for the rebel forces against the military-run government led by Min Aung Hlaing.

Since Hlaing's forces seized power in a successful 2021 coup, they have faced growing resistance from ethnic minority groups, including the Arakan Army. The ethnic minority armed group, which represents the Rakhine ethnic minority, has been on the offensive against army outposts in Rakhine State for the past six months.

In a video statement released on Telegram, the Arakan Army claimed that soldiers from the military government's Operational Command No. 15 surrendered after a siege in Rakhine's Buthidaung township. The capture of the base could not be independently confirmed, and the Burma military government has not commented.

The conflict in Rakhine is part of the nationwide conflict that has gripped Burma since the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021. Despite its advantages in arms and manpower, Burma's army has been on the defensive since October when an alliance of three ethnic rebel groups launched an offensive in the country's northeast.

The video released by the Arakan Army shows fighters guarding men in military uniforms and civilian clothes, including some injured, accompanied by women and children. The caption accompanying the video claims that the deputy commander of the group and his troops were captured. The video does not specify the total number of captured soldiers and their family members, but in one part, around 300 men can be seen sitting in rows.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Arakan Army claimed to have captured the command post on Thursday after a two-week attack. The group also claimed to have seized another army post the following day, along with others over the past two months. The attackers reportedly captured weapons, ammunition, military equipment, and prisoners of war.

Parts of the video show young men suspected to be members of the Muslim Rohingya minority. Burma's military has been accused of pressuring Rohingya men to join the army in Rakhine under the recently activated conscription law. The army has lost personnel due to casualties, surrender, and defections while facing increasing resistance on the battlefield.

The Rohingya were victims of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in 2017, which saw an estimated 740,000 flee to Bangladesh as their villages were burned down. Ethnic Rakhine nationalists allied with the Arakan Army were also among the perpetrators of the persecution, but now the Arakan Army and the Rohingya have become uneasy allies against the military government.

The Arakan Army, which seeks autonomy from Burma's central government, is part of an alliance of ethnic minority armies that launched an offensive in October and gained strategic territory in Burma's northeast bordering China. The success was seen as a significant defeat for the military government and boosted the resistance against the regime.

On Sunday, the Kachin Independence Army, another major ethnic armed group, claimed to have captured Sumprabum, a township in the northern state of Kachin.