Specifically, AA claimed to have "complete control" of Pauktaw, a town of 20,000 people near an important deep-water port in the capital Sittwe of Rakhine state in western Myanmar, according to AFP today, January 25.
AA members briefly seized Pauktaw in November 2023, breaking a fragile ceasefire that had largely held since the 2021 coup.
Since then, Myanmar's military government has used artillery and naval vessels to bombard the town almost daily and attacked the town with helicopters, AFP reported, citing several residents.
New Google Earth images of Pauktaw show an area in the town centre almost reduced to rubble and several buildings damaged.
People flee a village following fresh fighting between Myanmar troops and the Arakan Army (AA) in Pauktaw township in western Rakhine state on November 19, 2023.
AFP said it could not confirm the AA's new claim and there was no immediate response from Myanmar's military government. On January 23, Myanmar's military government said "intense" clashes were taking place in the town but has not provided further information since.
Also in a statement on January 24, AA said that "intense" clashes were taking place in the townships of Mrauk-U, Minbya, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung in Rakhine, without giving details.
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The AA has been fighting for years for greater autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine people. It is one of dozens of ethnic minority armed groups that have fought the Myanmar military since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948.
Some groups want greater autonomy, while others simply want the right to control the jade, drug and timber trade on their territory, AFP reported.
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