The Arakan Army captured Rathedaung town in Rakhine state after driving the last troops from three junta battalions out of the town on the weekend, the ethnic army said.
It seized three separate infantry headquarters from light infantry battalions outside the town on Sunday evening after two weeks of intense fighting, with the last 200 junta troops fleeing the riverside town north of the state capital by boat. It has seized more than half of Rakhine State since it launched a large-scale offensive to drive junta troops out of the state in November last year. It controls six of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and had has captured three towns, including Rathedaung, in townships it does not yet fully control. The Arkan Army also has complete control of Paletwa Township in the south of neighboring Chin State.