The Arakan Army (AA) claimed that over 700 military personnel were killed, including Colonel Than Soe Win, and that the remaining Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 562 and 563 were seized in Gwa Township of southern Arakan State on Sunday. No AA casualties were reported.
“Despite the military’s armored vehicles, air and naval support, we seized the town after a two-week offensive. Gwa has become the last town seized in 2024,” stated the AA in its press release on Dec. 29.
Gwa is located 250 miles (402 km) south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe. The AA added that its final push to take full control of Gwa began on Dec. 15. It also claimed that it had taken an unknown number of prisoners of war from pro-regime forces.
The AA took control of the Western Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Ann Township on Dec. 20. The Western RMC in Arakan was the second headquarters in Myanmar’s history to fall to anti-regime forces.
The Northeastern RMC in Lashio, northern Shan State, was seized by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Aug. 3.
Regime authorities in neighboring Ayeyarwady Region ordered Gwa residents, who had fled their homes due to the conflict and were staying as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Chaungtha and Shwethaungyanm towns, to return to their homes in Gwa on Dec. 22.
Only three towns in the state remain under regime control – after the AA launched its offensive against the military in Arakan on Nov. 13, 2023 – the capital Sittwe, the vital port town of Kyaukphyu, and the island of Munaung.
The AA claimed that it has seized a total of 15 townships, including Ann, Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myebon, Ponnagyun, Ramree, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Thandwe, Taungup, Maungdaw, Gwa, and Paletwa in southern Chinland.
