Founded in 2009 in northern Kachin State, far from their homeland, the Arakan Army (AA) were trained and supported by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and joined the KIA and the Myanmar Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), in skirmishes with the Burma Army in the country’s northeast last year.
In March 2015, the first clashes between the AA and the Burma Army were recorded in Arakan State itself. This quickly receded, but clashes resumed in December 2015, acquiring a new intensity and prolonging into the term of the new government. The violence has spread beyond Kyauktaw Township to Buthidaung, Mrauk-U, Rathedaung and Ponnagyun townships of central and northern Arakan State. More than 1,700 local residents have been displaced this year by the fighting.
Although lawmakers of the Arakan National Party (ANP), the dominant ethnic party in the state, have called for the AA’s involvement in Burma’s peace process, the Arakanese armed group were excluded from signing the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October last year and remain outside of formal peace negotiations. The Burma Army publicly vowed to “eliminate” the AA in January. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
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