Arakan Army
The Arakan Army (Rakhine: အာရက္ခတပ်တော်, romanized: Araka Tatdaw; abbreviated AA), sometimes referred to as the Arakha Army is an ethnic-armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded in April 2009, the Arakan Army is the military wing of the United League of Arakan (ULA). It is currently led by Commander-in-Chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing and vice deputy commander-in-chief Brigadier General Nyo Twan Awng. It is the military wing of the Rakhine ethnic people in Rakhine state where they are the majority. They seek greater autonomy from the Myanmar's central government and wants to restore the sovereignty of Arakan people. It was declared a terrorist organization in 2020 by Myanmar, and again by the State Administration Council junta in 2024.
In the early 2010s, the Arakan Army fought alongside the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) against the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) in the Kachin conflict. Following the 2016 outbreak of conflict in Rakhine state, the AA became more heavily involved in the Arakan region. In 2019, the AA launched attacks on state security forces and the Myanmar Army responded, heightening clashes. The AA reached a ceasefire in late 2020 after eroding the central government's control in northern Rakhine. The power vacuum was filled by the AA over the next 18 months with state-building efforts, like their COVID-19 vaccine rollouts.
During the Myanmar civil war, the ceasefire broke down and armed clashes resumed in July 2022 after a Tatmadaw airstrike against an AA base. The two sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire in November 2022, reportedly for humanitarian reasons. This ceasefire lasted until November 2023, when it launched a series of offensives coinciding with Operation 1027 that saw them rapidly take all of Mrauk-U District by 6 February 2024. They would continue to take towns, seizing Thandwe in July and Maungdaw in December 2024. The AA gained full control over the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in December 2024.
In June 2024, Twan Mrat Naing claimed that the AA had grown to at least 45,000 troops.