Naung Min Thu, Narinjara News, 6 August 2024

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

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

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

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

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

“The military junta relies on waterways fortransporting supplies to Maungdaw as most of the land routes are under thecontrol of AA. Moreover the air transportation is not easy. Now then AA hasrestricted 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 usedfor logistics. With the capture of Maung Ni camp, the AA has gained controlover most of the junta's waterway routes.

The analyst added that the junta’s landing craft nolonger ventured into Naf river due to the AA drone attacks. These landingcrafts are now stationed between Myanmar and Bangladesh near St. Martin'sisland where boats are used for transporting supplies. Often the  AAfighters targeted these boats with their drones. After taking the Maung Nicamp, the AA fighters continued to attack the point of entry-exit (POE) camp.

On 27 and  30 July, the AA fighters launchedoffensives against the POE camp resulting in casualties including one borderguard officer.

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