The Arakan Army (AA) claims to have taken control of a strategic town in western Myanmar after weeks of fighting. Reports indicate arson attacks and mass displacement of Rohingya communities in the area.
According to the AA, their soldiers seized Buthidaung, a township in northern Rakhine State near the Bangladesh border, after overcoming the Myanmar military’s 15th Military Operations Command in the town center on Saturday.
AA spokesperson Khine Thu Kha stated, “We have conquered all the bases in Buthidaung and also took over the town yesterday.” Photos posted on social media showed AA fighters posing with their flag in Buthidaung.
Fighting for control of Buthidaung and Maungdaw Township has been ongoing for months, with the AA making significant gains. The fall of Buthidaung now puts the AA in primary control of the northern half of Rakhine State and the border with Bangladesh, except for Sittwe, the state capital.
However, the victory is marred by reports of homes being burned and tens of thousands of civilians, mainly Muslim Rohingyas, being displaced. Satellite images show smoke over Buthidaung, reminiscent of the 2017 Rohingya village clearance operation labeled as genocide by the United States and United Nations.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for a halt to the fighting to allow humanitarian access to the area. Reports suggest that the AA, not the Myanmar military, is responsible for the attacks on Rohingya communities.
Despite accusations, the AA denies targeting Rohingya communities. They claim that the destruction was carried out by the Myanmar Air Force and Muslim insurgent groups aligned with the military.
Thomas Kean of the International Crisis Group stressed the importance of preventing a repeat of the disaster in Buthidaung in neighboring Maungdaw. The ethnic tensions in Rakhine State have been heightened since the 2017 ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya communities.
The recent violence may be linked to the Myanmar military’s forced enlistment of Rohingya earlier this year to counter the AA’s advances. The AA’s stance on Rohingyas as “Bengali” raises concerns about their future treatment in an independent Rakhine state.
In a message to Rohingya diaspora and activists, AA commander Twan Mrat Naing urged them to stop highlighting the suffering of their compatriots in Buthidaung, calling it selfish and unpatriotic.