Arakan Army says it has taken Maungdaw and now controls Bangladesh border stretch
Event date: 2024-12-09
An ethnic armed group fighting Myanmar’s military says it has captured the last army outpost in the western border town of Maungdaw, a development it says gives it control of the full border with Bangladesh.
The claim came from the Arakan Army, which told The Associated Press by text message that its forces took the final military position in Maungdaw on Sunday. The AP report said the group described the seizure as a major step in its campaign for greater autonomy in Rakhine state, where it has been expanding steadily since late 2023.
The town matters because of both geography and politics. Maungdaw sits on Myanmar’s western edge, along a 271-kilometer border with Bangladesh that includes land crossings, the Naf River and offshore waters in the Bay of Bengal. AP reported that the Arakan Army says the capture completes its control over northern Rakhine, strengthening its hold over territory it has been contesting in a nationwide war that began after the military seized power in 2021.
The military government in Naypyitaw did not immediately comment, and the situation could not be independently confirmed because internet and mobile service in the area are largely cut off, AP said. That makes the battlefield claim important but still difficult to verify from outside the conflict zone.
The AP account also places the Maungdaw claim in a wider military campaign. The Arakan Army had already taken Paletwa and Buthidaung earlier in the year, and AP said it has gained control of 11 of Rakhine’s 17 townships since November 2023. The group is also pressing toward Ann, where Myanmar’s western military command is based.
The fighting carries humanitarian risk as well as military significance. AP reported renewed fears that conflict in Rakhine could fuel violence against the Rohingya minority, many of whom were driven into Bangladesh in 2017. The Arakan Army denies abuses, but witnesses and aid-related accounts have raised allegations over forced displacement and attacks on civilians in earlier operations.
The border crossing itself has already become part of the conflict dynamics. AP said the Arakan Army announced a suspension of transport across the Naf River, claiming police and local Muslims affiliated with the military were trying to flee by boat to Bangladesh.
For Myanmar, the significance of Maungdaw is strategic: if the Arakan Army’s claim holds, it would be another sign that the military is losing control of remote but geopolitically sensitive border territory. For Bangladesh, it raises the stakes of a conflict that can quickly spill across frontiers through displacement, trade disruptions and security concerns.
