How the Myanmar Army Lost Control of Rakhine State

Last Updated on December 21, 2024 5:42 am

The situation at the BGP barracks was horrific and deadly in the last few days. First, there was a broken call for surrender over the microphone, then a loud explosion, the sound of rockets and rifle fire, which collapsed a large part of the building. Hundreds of soldiers were hiding in these buildings. The BBC reported this information in a report.

BGP-5, or Border Guard Police, was the last resistance point of the Myanmar military junta in northern Rakhine State, which is located near the border with Bangladesh. A video of the siege of the rebel Arakan Army (AA) base shows their colorfully dressed and barefoot fighters firing at the base with various weapons. At that time, air force fighter jets were flying overhead.

It was a terrible battle, perhaps the bloodiest episode in Myanmar’s civil war so far, which has been going on since the military coup in 2021.

A member of the Arakan Army said that they dug large holes around the base and planted sharp poles in them. There were several bunkers and defensive buildings. They buried more than a thousand land mines around it, which many of our fighters lost limbs and many died while trying to cross.

After a year of military defeat, it was another crushing defeat for the leader of the coup, General Min Aung Hlaing. For the first time, his army has lost control of an entire border. The 270-kilometer border between Myanmar and Bangladesh is now completely under the control of the Arakan Army.

Now only the capital of Rakhine State, Sittwe, is under the control of the army, but it is isolated from the rest of the country. The Arakan Army is perhaps the first rebel group to take control of an entire state.

The Myanmar army has been losing control of one city after another since the beginning of this year, after being defeated by the Arakan Army. In September, the last units of the army moved into BGP-5, a 20-hectare area outside the border town of Maungdaw, where the Arakan Army has surrounded them.

BGP-5 was set up in the Muslim Rohingya village of Myo Thu Zi, where the armed forces had driven the Rohingya out of the area in 2017 and burned their homes.

A visit to Maungdaw in September 2017 after the military operation revealed burnt-out villages and charred trees. Many Rohingya were killed during the operation, forcing many to flee to Bangladesh.

A visit to the same area two years later revealed a new police complex, with trees cut down to make it easier to spot the attackers. Arakan Army members said they were slowly advancing towards the camp, digging holes to hide themselves. The Arakan Army did not disclose the number of casualties, or how many of its fighters had been killed.

Although the intensity of the fighting that began in Maungdaw in June suggests that hundreds of their fighters have been killed, the Myanmar Air Force has been bombing Maungdaw relentlessly during the siege, forcing civilians to flee.

Planes dropped food at night to the besieged soldiers, but it was not enough. A local source said there was plenty of rice in the bunkers, but there was no medical care for the wounded. This demoralized the soldiers.

Then, last week, they began to surrender. Arakan Army videos showed soldiers walking out in miserable white clothes. Some were walking on crutches, some with their feet wrapped in cloth. Most were without shoes. The victorious rebels found piles of bodies inside the destroyed buildings.

The Arakan Army claims that more than 450 soldiers were killed in the siege. They released a video of the capture of their captured commander, Brigadier-General Thurain Tun, and his officers, kneeling under an Arakan Army flagpole with rebel banners flying above. The incidents have prompted anger and frustration among Myanmar’s military supporters on social media.

One person wrote, “Min Aung Hlaing, you didn’t ask any of your children to join the army.” Another wrote, “Are you treating us like this? Are you happy to see so many deaths in Rakhine?”

Another person commented that if this continues, only Min Aung Hlaing and a flagpole will be left from the Tatmadaw (army).

The capture of BGP-5 proves that the Arakan Army (AA) is one of the most powerful rebel groups in Myanmar. It was formed in 2009, much later than other rebel groups in Myanmar. It was formed by young Rakhine people who had gone to the Chinese border in search of work.

The Arakan Army is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which has been the main reason for the junta’s defeat since last year. The other two groups in this alliance are located on the border with Shan State. But the Arakan Army returned to Rakhine eight years ago and began an armed struggle to establish its own government there.

The fighting is fueled by historical resentment among the Rakhine people over poverty, isolation and central government neglect. The Arakan Army has proven that its leaders are intelligent, disciplined and able to inspire their fighters.

They are running the large parts of Rakhine State they control as if they were running their own state. They have also been well-armed, thanks to their connections to old rebel groups on the Chinese border. They are also believed to have considerable money.

But a big question remains: how much priority will the ethnic rebel groups give to overthrowing the military junta?

They have also publicly stated their intention to do so, in line with the government that was ousted in the military coup. Hundreds of volunteers have joined the People’s Defense Force to protest in support of the ousted government.

In exchange for support from the rebels, the shadow government has promised to create a new federal system that would give Myanmar’s regions autonomy. But the other two factions of the Three Brotherhood Alliance have already agreed to a ceasefire at China’s request.

China wants a negotiated end to the civil war, which would ensure the military can retain power. The opposition demands that the military be reformed and removed from politics.

But after seizing so much territory from the military junta, ethnic rebel groups may seek a Chinese-brokered peace deal rather than ousting the military rulers. The group’s leaders have been tight-lipped about their plans. But they have seized a state that has always been poverty-stricken and has been badly hit by last year’s fighting.

“Eighty percent of the houses in Maungdaw and surrounding villages have been destroyed,” said a Rohingya who recently arrived in Bangladesh from Maungdaw. The town is a deserted place. Almost all the shops and houses have been looted.

Last month, the UN warned that Rakhine could face famine because so many people have been displaced, and the army’s blockade has prevented food and supplies from getting in. The UN has also been unable to deliver aid.

The Arakan Army is trying to form its own administration. But some of those displaced by the fighting have told the BBC that the Arakan Army is unable to provide them with food or shelter.

So it is still unclear how the Arakan Army will deal with the Rohingya. There are still about 600,000 Rohingya in Rakhine. In 2017, the army expelled 700,000 Rohingya.

The largest number of Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state, and Maungdaw city is predominantly Rohingya. But relations between the Rohingya and the ethnic majority Rakhine have always been bad. These Rakhine are supporters of the Arakan Army.

Now this relationship has worsened, because some Rohingya armed groups, who live in refugee camps in Bangladesh, have sided with the military against the Arakan Army. Even though it was the army that tortured them.

Many Rohingya do not like these armed groups. On the other hand, some Rohingya say that they are happy to live in Rakhine state under the control of the Arakan Army. But the Arakan Army has evicted thousands of Rohingya from the towns they have occupied and is not allowing them to return.

The Arakan Army has promised to include all communities in a future independent Rakhine state. But they have condemned the Rohingya who have fought on the side of the army. A Rohingya living in Bangladesh said, “We cannot deny that the Myanmar government has been persecuting the Rohingya for many years and the Rakhine people have supported it.” He added, “The government does not want the Rohingya to gain citizenship and the Rakhine people also believe that the Rohingya should not be allowed to stay in Rakhine state at all. Our situation is worse than during the military junta’s rule.”