Arakan army seizes Maungdaw, Myanmar-Bangladesh border

Myanmar's armed rebel group Arakan Army (AA) has taken control of a 270-kilometre-long stretch of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, Myanmar media The Irrawaddy reports. 

On Sunday, the AA seized the Maungdaw township. Afterwards, the ethnic army said it was attacking the regime and allied Rohingya militia from the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) as they fled the base. 

The AA now claims control of all three Myanmar townships bordering Bangladesh – Maungdaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine State and Chin State’s Paletwa, which also borders India.

A military analyst monitoring the fighting in Rakhine said restoring trade with Bangladesh would help ease the plight of people living in the western state.

The UN reported that two million people in Rakhine faced looming famine last month.

The junta has blockaded roads and waterways leading to the state, blocking deliveries of food, fuel and medicine, including international humanitarian aid.

The analyst added that the Bangladesh government must engage in meaningful dialogue with the ethnic army if it wants to solve the complex Rohingya issue in Rakhine State.