AA vows to take all of Rakhine State by end of next year

The Arakan Army (AA) will achieve “final victory” in Rakhine State by the end of 2027, its commander-in-chief, Maj-Gen Twan Mrat Naing, said on Friday at a ceremony marking the 17th anniversary of the group’s founding.

The AA has captured 14 townships in Rakhine State, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State, since late 2023. Only three townships in Rakhine State—the capital Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung—remain under regime control.

“We will continue to carry out what needs to be done with complete confidence,” Twan Mrat Naing said, adding that the AA would also continue fighting alongside its allies against their common enemy, Myanmar’s repressive military regime.

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The AA began its offensive in Rakhine State on November 13, 2023, just weeks after the Brotherhood Alliance, of which it is a member, launched Operation 1027 in northern Shan State.

Since then, it has had not only military success, but has also established its own administrative system, complete with courts, schools, and healthcare facilities, in areas under its control. However, due to the junta’s ongoing air and naval bombardments, civilians continue to face displacement in many parts of the state.

The two other members of the Brotherhood Alliance—the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army—both sent congratulatory messages to the AA on the occasion of the anniversary of its founding.

The National Unity Government, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, and more than 40 armed resistance groups, including the Chin Brotherhood Alliance, the Bamar People’s Liberation Army, and the Student Armed Force, also congratulated the AA on its growing strength over the past 17 years.

Their messages stated that the achievements of the AA and the people of Rakhine were the result of unwavering determination, sacrifice, and unity, and serve as an example for other ethnic groups across Myanmar.