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Arakan/Rakhine State

Reading through our in-depth and featured reports, you will comprehend the recent intensive armed conflicts between the rebel Arakan Army and the Myanmar Military, and the current affairs of the Arakan (Rakhine) State.

FULCRUM •

Does the Arakan Army have the Capacity to Govern Rakhine? | FULCRUM

The Arakan Army (AA) in Myanmar appears to be making enough headway in Rakhine to make it a plausible rival authority someday, not just in the context of warfighting but also administration.As the Arakan Army (AA) gains more ground against the State Administration Council (SAC) regime forces in Rakhine State, analysts are asking questions about the AA’s administrative capacity. The AA has steadily gained momentum against SAC troops since November 2023, when it opened a new front as a part of Ope...
FULCRUM •

New Battlefront Emerging in Western Myanmar

The Arakan Army (AA) has gained significant ground against State Administration Council (SAC) troops in western Myanmar. The AA’s gains compound SAC losses in other parts of the country since Operation 1027 in October.

A new battlefront has opened up in western Myanmar. Just weeks after the Operation 1027 offensive against junta forces in late October, the Arakan Army (AA) has chalked up a string of territorial gains against State Administration Council (SAC) forces in Rakhine State. The gains
The Diplomat •

Ceasefire Breach: Operation 1027 Shakes Western Myanmar

On November 13, about 18 days after its inception, Operation 1027 opened a new front in western Myanmar, breaking a year-long informal ceasefire with the Myanmar military. The initial attack was carried out by the Arakan Army (AA), which attacked at least two junta outposts in northern Rakhine State. Operation 1027, which has made rapid gains in northern Shan State and has since expanded to other areas of the country, has now reached the previously quiet west of Myanmar. This expansion presents
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute •

2023/72 “Responses to Humanitarian Needs in Western Myanmar after Cyclone Mocha” by Kyaw Hsan Hlaing

• Category 5-level Cyclone Mocha made landfall on 14 May 2023 in western Myanmar, killing more than 100 lives, causing significant damage and loss in many townships across Rakhine State, and leaving approximately 1.5 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
• The State Administration Council (SAC) military regime restricted United Nations agencies in Myanmar and other aid organisations access to the cyclone-affected communities in Rakhine State. The United League of Arakan (ULA), the
The Diplomat Magazine •

Arakan Rebel Government Takes Lead in Myanmar Cyclone Recovery

Following the arrival of Cyclone Mocha last week, in western Myanmar, the humanitarian situation on the ground is dire. As of May 16, two days after the storm made landfall, approximately 1.5 million people in Rakhine were believed to have been affected by the storm and more than 400,000 buildings including hospitals, schools, and internally displace person (IDP) camps were partially or completely damaged. More than 400 people are reportedly dead, and hundreds remain missing.
The Diplomat Magazine •

How the Arakan Army Has Capitalized on Myanmar’s Coup

Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh to the west, is now relatively stable despite the country’s escalating countrywide civil war, under de facto control of the Arakan Army (AA), one of the country’s most powerful ethnic armed groups. Established in 2009 with its political goal of greater autonomy for the people of Rakhine, the AA claims that it now has 30,000 people under arms, around 6,000 of which are supporting its ethnic allies and resistance groups in Kachin, Karen, and Shan states and elsewhere in country.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute •

2023/35 "Myanmar’s “Sham” Election Threatens the 2025 Goals of the Arakan Rebels" by Kyaw Hsan Hlaing

• After fighting the Myanmar military fiercely for two years, the Arakan Army had, by the end of 2020, established a parallel administration and military bases in Rakhine State. It seemed that “Arakan Dream 2020” was thus accomplished.
• While the relationship between the Rakhine political parties and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) is not clear, the ULA/AA leadership seems to have much closer interactions with the Arakan National Party (ANP) than with the Arakan League of Democracy and Arakan Front Party.
Stimson Center •

Understanding the Arakan Army • Stimson Center

On February 1, 2023, the brutal military in Myanmar marked two years since its seizure of power from the civilian government in 2021. Since then, the country has been plagued by escalated civil war and political and economic turmoil. It is critical to end the military regime in Myanmar for all ethnic groups, especially the ethnic armed revolutionary groups taking the significant role of supporting and fighting alongside the resistance groups across the country.
FULCRUM •

How Would Rakhine Figure in Myanmar’s “Sham” Elections?

The most critical player in Rakhine for the security situation and upcoming elections is the Arakan Army, not the local politicians.

At the two-year mark of the 1 February 2021 coup in Myanmar, the State Administration Council (SAC) regime extended its term for another six months and sought support for elections now planned for August 2023. The SAC’s moves to push ahead with what are likely to be sham elections have stacked the odds in favor of its proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Pa

How India Betrayed the Rakhine People – And Why It Matters Today

Twenty-five years ago this week, India’s government betrayed the people of Rakhine State in western Myanmar, when its armed forces smashed a nascent Rakhine revolutionary group in a remote part of the Andaman Islands. In the years since, the Indian government has never referred publicly to the incident, but it continues to resonate among the Rakhine people, who remember it as Gen. Khaing Raza’s Day, or Betrayal of India over Rakhine Revolution Day.
Center for Arakan Studies •

Arakan Review - Return To War Issue 1 By Center for Arakan Studies (CAS)

The returning war since August 2022 shows no signs of stopping now. The negative impacts of the armed conflict on the civilian population are also quite visible.

The current report will also consist of three key sections such as new developments regarding the changing conflict map and its consequences, notes on the civilian causalities, and the topic of humanitarian challenges. In the final part, four key highlights during the previous three months have been mentioned.

The objectives of the current report are to present the changing conflict map in Rakhine and its neighboring areas and to analyze the relations among changes in terms of armed clashes plus casualties, arrests, and humanitarian crisis. The collected data in this report mainly rely on local, national, and regional news and observations.
Los Angeles Times •

Myanmar's ethnic insurgents raise the pressure on military junta

The day her 4-year-old grandson was killed, U San Yee had taken him to their local market in rural Myanmar for sticky rice and his favorite fried banana snacks before coming home to play with his toy cars.

“We didn’t know that the Myanmar military would fire artillery shells,” U San Yee said. “That’s why we were just going about and living our normal lives.”

When the first explosions struck Kin Seik, a farming village of about 3,000 people, the two were watching “Tom and Jerry” cartoons.
Al Jazeera •

Civilians in firing line as conflict returns to Myanmar’s Rakhine

An uneasy truce in the troubled western region appears to have collapsed with the military in open warfare against rebel groups.

On the evening of September 25, in Nagara village in western Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State, Bu Wine and her family went to bed early.

But a couple of hours later, she was awake.

“After hearing loud firing at midnight, I felt worried,” she told Al Jazeera, recalling how she planned to gather up her four children and take them somewhere safe.

But then, an artiller
the Diplomat Magazine •

Relief Agencies Should Push for Independent Access to Myanmar’s Rakhine State

Since February, when Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, staged a coup against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, Rakhine State in the west of the country has stood out. While other states witnessed massive peaceful demonstrations, followed by deeply troubling indiscriminate violence at the hands of the police and the military, Rakhine remained relatively tranquil.

In November 2020, three months before the coup, the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic armed organization
the Diplomat Magazine •

Relief Agencies Should Push for Independent Access to Myanmar’s Rakhine State

Since February, when Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, staged a coup against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, Rakhine State in the west of the country has stood out. While other states witnessed massive peaceful demonstrations, followed by deeply troubling indiscriminate violence at the hands of the police and the military, Rakhine remained relatively tranquil.

In November 2020, three months before the coup, the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic armed organization
Al Jazeera •

Myanmar’s military coup prolongs misery for Rohingya in Rakhine

Bangkok, Thailand – In early August, military officials assigned to Rakhine State by Myanmar’s generals summoned leaders from the mainly Muslim Rohingya community in Buthidaung township to a meeting on the banks of the Mayu River.

The officials came with a warning: Rohingya villagers should cut off any ties with the Arakan Army (AA), an armed rebel group fighting for self-determination for ethnic minorities in the country’s northwest.

“Currently we are participating all-together in the AA’s ad
Al Jazeera •

Rumbles in Rakhine amid strains between Myanmar military, rebels

Recent skirmishes between Arakan Army and the military have raised concern about the stability of an informal year-long ceasefire.

Since Myanmar’s military staged a coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government on February 1, triggering mass unrest, the formerly restive far-western state of Rakhine has remained relatively peaceful.

But recent skirmishes have raised concern that an informal ceasefire agreed in the long-troubled area in November last year is starting to break down, even as
the Diplomat Magazine •

Arakan Army Seeks to Build ‘Inclusive’ Administration in Rakhine State

Seven months since the military coup in Myanmar, the political wing of the rebel Arakan Army (AA) has significantly expanded its administrative and judicial mechanisms across Rakhine State in western Myanmar, with hundreds of its personnel now effectively administering the region independently of the military junta that rules in Naypyidaw. The group is also attempting to involve the state’s entire population, including the Rohingya Muslims, in the governance of what it hopes will become an auton
Frontier Myanmar •

Arakan Army extends administrative grip on Rakhine State

The Arakan Army and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, have unveiled a political dispute mechanism and plans for a judiciary in Rakhine State as part of their moves to “bring justice to all people living in Rakhine.”

The United League of Arakan is advancing steadily towards its objective of assuming administrative control in Rakhine State, and has seen a high level of compliance from the state’s residents with the stay-at-home order it issued on July 20 in response to the third wa
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