The Arakan Army (AA) has attacked two Border Guard Force (BGF) outposts in Rathedaung Township, northern Rakhine State in the early morning of 13 November.

Local residents told Mizzima that the attacks were launched around 5 am, targeting Cheinkhali and Donepaik outposts on the Angumaw-Maungtaw motorway.

“AA attacked Cheinkhali and Donepaik outposts, and the military carried out retaliatory attacks from Rathedaung area,” a local woman told Mizzima.

These attacks may be significant as they occurred just over two weeks after the Three Brotherhood Alliance launch of Operation 1027, an alliance including AA forces, that has caused havoc for junta forces stationed in northern Shan State.

A local resident in Rathedaung township said: “The Light Infantry Battalion No. 537 based in Rathedaung Township has fired at least 10 artillery rounds around 8:30 am this morning to reinforce its troops at the frontline.”

The armed conflict has resumed after a ceasefire agreement was signed between the AA and the Military Council in early November 2022 that brought an uneasy peace to Rakhine.

Prior to today’s BGF posts attacks, on 7 November, the United League of Arakan-AA forces arrested six police officers in Rakhine’s Mrauk-U township.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance, including the Arakan Army, has taken over around a dozen military camps in northern Shan State since it launched Operation 1027.

The AA attacks this morning appear to have opened up another front for the stretched Myanmar junta forces that are fighting in a number of areas across Myanmar.