AA fighters occupy Maung Ni camp in Maungdaw

Naung Min Thu, Narinjara News, 6 August 2024

The Arakan Army (AA) on Monday captured the junta camp in Maung Ni village, located at the mouth of Naf river in Maungdaw town of Arakan State.

A local Muslim informed that the AA fighters took control of the camp in the morning hours of 5 August.

“The border guard personnel retreated along the camp's fence. Fierce fighting went on for the whole day. The AA fighters chased the border guard personnel near the school in Maung Ni village and ward number 2,” he added.

The AA fighters began their offensive on the military junta's remaining camp in Maungdaw locality, which also served as a key waterway entry & exit point in Maung Ni village. The offensive was launched on 4 August and they succeeded in capturing the camp by next morning.

A Maungdaw-based military analyst noted that the AA fighters effectively controlled most of the waterways used by the junta forces for transporting weapons, ammunition and also food items to Maungdaw.

“The military junta relies on waterways for transporting supplies to Maungdaw as most of the land routes are under the control of AA. Moreover the air transportation is not easy. Now then AA has restricted the waterways for junta people,” he added.

The AA fighters previously occupied Ma Gyee Chaung, Kanyin Chaung economic zone and Aung Ba La camps, which the military junta used for logistics. With the capture of Maung Ni camp, the AA has gained control over most of the junta's waterway routes.

The analyst added that the junta’s landing craft no longer ventured into Naf river due to the AA drone attacks. These landing crafts are now stationed between Myanmar and Bangladesh near St. Martin's island where boats are used for transporting supplies. Often the  AA fighters targeted these boats with their drones. After taking the Maung Ni camp, the AA fighters continued to attack the point of entry-exit (POE) camp.

On 27 and  30 July, the AA fighters launched offensives against the POE camp resulting in casualties including one border guard officer.

Currently, the 5th border guard police battalion (NaKhaKha-5), located about 2.5 miles east of Maungdaw, is under intense attacks by the AA fighters, deteriorating the situation for  junta forces.