Hundreds of Myanmar soldiers, including general, detained

Last Updated on December 14, 2024 5:46 am

After capturing the Myanmar city of Maungdaw, bordering Bangladesh, the armed rebel group Arakan Army has captured hundreds of Myanmar government soldiers, including Rohingya fighters. Among those detained is the notorious Myanmar army Brigadier General Thurain Tun.

The Arakan Army (AA) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had captured the last junta base in Maungdaw, Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and was holding hundreds of government soldiers captive.

The rebel group said it had also attacked the Myanmar Border Guard Police Battalion 5 base in Maungdaw.

The heavily fortified base was manned by more than 700 police officers and soldiers, including Rohingya militias from the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO).

The Arakan Army said it captured the base on Sunday after 55 days of fighting amid airstrikes by the junta. It also said more than 450 government soldiers were killed during the fighting at the Border Guard Police battalion headquarters and that it had seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition from the Arakan Army.

After the base fell to the Arakan Army, government soldiers and others fled. However, after they fled the base, the Arakan Army arrested Brigadier General Thurain Tun, commander of the junta’s Military Operations Command (MOC) 15, along with government soldiers.