Popular support in Rakhine State for the Arakan Army has been a game changer for the conflict there and is one reason why the ethnic armed group is increasingly impervious to pressure from China. By YUN SUN | FRONTIER The emergence of the Arakan Army has created the most acute problem for the stalled peace process and Myanmar’s efforts to end decades of conflict. The severe fighting between the AA and Tatmadaw in Rakhine and Chin States since January 2019 has not only caused instability, insecurity and casualties. It has also sucked up all the attention and resources that stakeholders could otherwise have devoted to negotiations and political dialogue. The conflict involving the AA is complicating this year’s general elections at the national level and hindering voting at the local level. The fighting is also obstructing progress in addressing the Rohingya crisis because repatriating refugees to conflict zones is neither desirable nor feasible. The basic question The...

The Arakan Army captured 30 soldiers after fighting government troops in Paletwa township in Chin State, the armed ethnic group said Wednesday. Khaing Thu Kha, a spokesperson of the Arakan Army, said among the captives is a battalion commander. “We arrested two captains and eight soldiers today. We arrested 20 soldiers yesterday,” he told The Myanmar Times. “We detain them under the prisoner of war law.” Khaing Thu Kha said the Tatmadaw (military) used rocket launchers, artillery, jet fighters, and helicopters during the fighting on Wednesday. “We seized a lot of weapons, and 20 soldiers died in the fight,” he said. “Some AA members also died.” The Myanmar Times was unable to reach Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, secretary of Tatmadaw True News Information Team, to confirm the report of the Arakan Army spokesperson. A 50-year-old man died in the clashes, and three other civilians injured in an artillery fire that hit Vi Hu Village on Monday, according to U Kyaw Nyein, ch...

March 8, 2020     |   By:  Subir Bhaumik Arakan Army trainees Desperate to complete the ambitious US$ 484 million Kaladan Multimodal Project and get it operational, India may be getting too closely involved in what is essentially Myanmar's problem, namely, tackling an invigorated insurgency in the country's coastal province of Rakhine (previously Arakan).  Policy analysts familiar with Myanmar advise New Delhi to be cautious. The Arakan Army (AA), formed in 2009 in the northern state of Kachin, is now attacking the Burmese military called “Tatmadaw” continuously, even in urban areas, in an effort to weaken Tatmadow’s hold on the strategic Rakhine province, where both China and India have initiated major connectivity projects. The Chinese have finished the Kyaukphyu deep sea port and are going ahead with a Special Economic Zone around it with rail-road connections and oil-gas pipelines linking it with their Yunnan province.  The Indians...

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...

28 Jan, 2020   Web Master Narinjara News, 28 January 2020 Some parts of ancient Koe- thaung Temple in Mrauk U township are reportedly damaged due to the vibration of artillery shillings by Myanmar Army personnel around the locality, alleged local residents. Many parts of roots & wells in north and north-western direction of the pagoda were cracked, said Daw Khin Than, chairman of Mrauk U heritage preservation association. “The damage may augment if heavy shelling of artilleries nearby the pagoda is not stopped by the authority,” she added.   Koe-thaung Temple was built by Arakan’s great king Min Dikkha during 1553 -1556 where 90,000 Buddha images are placed. The large-size pagoda faced devastation in the past. However the archaeology department has started renovating it. Some parts of the pagoda are already renovated, but it is not completely done. “Some parts were also damaged by the shelling of artilleries. The Koe- thaung Temple is surrounded by hills where...

Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint: 10 December 2019 YANGON—The Arakan Army (AA) is planning to levy “taxes” on infrastructure projects and other businesses in areas of Rakhine and Chin states under its control, including the India-backed Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transportation Project, worth an estimated US$480 million (722.25 billion kyats), according to AA chief Major General Tun Myat Naing. He told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the ethnic armed organization (EAO) would start collecting money from the operators of large-scale projects, but did not say whether small and medium-sized businesses would also be taxed. He said the taxes would be imposed from next year, as the group is currently compiling lists of the projects and businesses operating in those parts of Rakhine State and Chin State’s Paletwa Township where AA troops are present, and is in the process of deciding how much they will be required to pay. Maungdaw Border Traders Association chairman U Aung Myint Thein told The...