After forcing the Junta forces out of Rathedaung Township in Rakhine State, the rebel group Arakan Army has taken control of the area. Approximately 200 Junta soldiers were able to escape on Sunday night following two weeks of intense warfare.
The statement that the Arakan Army had taken control of Rathedaung Township was verified by Irrawaddy, a news source run by journalists from Myanmar who are in exile. The news was also corroborated by US radio station “Radio Free Asia.”
The Irrawaddy said, citing Arakan Army sources, that Junta soldiers were using conscripted Rohingyas as human shields to hold out the region under their control. About 200 survivors from three junta battalions stationed in Rathedaung escaped by boat.According to local sources cited by Prothom Alo’s Teknaf correspondent, the Arakan Army attacked the Border Guard Police (BGP) sector on Sunday evening in the Nakpura district near the Bangladeshi border.
