Global Courant
Located on the Kaladar River in Chin State, Paletwa is a strategically important city on a major trade route.
The Arakan Army (AA), an armed ethnic group fighting as part of an alliance against Myanmar’s military, has claimed control of a key western city near the India-Bangladesh border.
The AA, which had an uneasy truce with the military until late October, said on Sunday afternoon it had taken full control of Paletwa in Chin state after capturing several military outposts.
“There is not a single military council camp left in the entire Palewa area,” it said in a statement on its media page, which was accompanied by photos showing AA soldiers posing with their weapons outside key administrative buildings , decorated with the group’s flag. such as weapons, ammunition and military equipment it had seized.
“The entire Palewa region has been successfully controlled by (the) Rakhine Army,” the statement added.
There was no comment from the military on the situation in Paletwa, nor any reporting in state media.
The capture of Paletwa is another setback for the generals who face their biggest challenge since they seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a coup in February 2021.
#AA declares #PaletwaVictory! Paletwa grabs the latest ‘Hnamadar’ and ‘Khan Kha Taung’ #SAC_free. “Mee Wa” seized after almost two years of attacks. Today Paletwa is controlled by the AA. Salute Arakkha soldiers for courage, obedience and seamless cooperation. #3BHA#Operation1027 pic.twitter.com/IaCnenjHUa
— Operation 1027-3BHA (@operation1027) January 14, 2024
The AA claims to have around 30,000 troops and is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’Ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which launched a major offensive against the army in the WWII. the end of October.
The offensive, known as Operation 1027, has wrested control of key cities and military outposts near the border with China in the north and given new impetus to the anti-coup movement.
Dr. Sasa, the Minister of International Cooperation in the Government of National Unity set up by politicians deposed in the coup, welcomed the AA’s capture of Paletwa.
“This is a significant success for the National Revolution, Myanmar’s Spring Revolution, the struggle to liberate the entire population of Myanmar from the genocidal military dictatorship and to restore Myanmar to the path of an inclusive federal democratic Union for ALL,” wrote he. on X.
42nd city to fall
The AA’s advance comes days after China announced it had brokered a ceasefire between armed groups and the military in northern Shan state. A similar deal in December quickly collapsed.
The AA is fighting the military in Rakhine, where the brutal military crackdown on the Rohingya in 2017 is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, in an effort to secure the autonomy of the ethnic population.
Just before Myanmar’s national elections in November 2020, the AA agreed to a ceasefire with the military, but when the generals seized power, the AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), took the opportunity to to expand and entrench its power in Rakhine. fighting resumed amid military concerns about the AA’s growing power.
Chin State is located north of Rakhine and Paletwa is located along the Kaladan River, about 20 km from the Bangladesh border.
Nathan Ruser, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber, Tech and Security program who has charted the advance of anti-coup forces, said the city was the 42nd city nationwide to hit the army was captured, while 16 are still contested.
Additionally, 25 battalion headquarters have been captured since the offensive began three months ago, “clearly marking the decisive shift toward offensive warfare by the Resistance,” Ruser wrote on X.
The military coup led to massive demonstrations demanding the restoration of civilian rule, but when the military responded with brutal force, many protesters took up arms and joined forces with ethnic armed groups on the country’s borders.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group in Myanmar monitoring the crisis, says at least 4,363 civilians and pro-democracy activists have been killed by the military in the escalating violence, and nearly 20,000 people have been jailed by the regime.
