AFP/Dhaka tribune, 18 May 2024  

Arakan Army (AA) on Saturday claimed its fighters had seizedcontrol of a town in western Rakhine state, in what would be another blowto the junta.

Clashes have rocked Rakhine since the AA attacked security forces inNovember, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the 2021 militarycoup.

AA fighters have seized territory, including along the border with India andBangladesh, piling further pressure on the junta as it battles opponentselsewhere across the Southeast Asian country.

"We seized all bases of the Myanmar Army in Buthidaung," innorthern Rakhine state, the AA said on its Telegram channel on Saturday. 

Those seized included a "military strategic headquarters," itadded, without giving details.

Its fighters were still clashing with junta troops outside the town, itsaid.

Buthidaung sits around 90 kilometres north of state capital Sittwe, which isstill held by the military. 

Earlier this month, the AA said it had taken hundreds of junta personnelprisoner following an assault on a command near the Buthidaung. 

A junta spokesman has been approached for comment.

Communication with Rakhine is extremely difficult, with most mobile networksdown.

The AA is one of several armed ethnic minority groups in Myanmar's borderregions, many of whom have battled the military since independence from Britainin 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative resources.

The AA claims to be fighting for more autonomy for the state's ethnicRakhine population.

Fighting had spread to 15 of Rakhine state's 17 townships since November,the UN's human rights chief said last month.

Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded and more than 300,000displaced, it said.

Clashes between the AA and the military in 2019 roiled the region anddisplaced around 200,000 people.

The military launched a crackdown on the Rohingya minority there in 2017which is now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case.