Located on the Kaladar River in Chin State, Paletwa is a strategically important city on an important trade route.

The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group fighting as part of an alliance against Myanmar’s military, has claimed control of a key western city near the border with India and Bangladesh.

The AA, which had an uneasy ceasefire with the military until late October, said it took full control of Paletwa in Chin state on Sunday afternoon after overrunning several military outposts.

“There is no longer a single military council camp in the entire Palewa area,” it said in a statement on its media page, which was accompanied by photos of AA soldiers posing with their weapons in front of key administrative buildings also decorated with the group’s flag such as weapons, ammunition and military equipment that it had confiscated.

“The entire Palewa region has been successfully controlled by [the] Rakhine Army,” the statement continued.

There was no comment from the military on the situation in Paletwa nor reports in state media.

The capture of Paletwa is another setback for the generals, who face their biggest challenge since seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February 2021.

#AA 🎉explained #PaletwaVictory! Paletwa conquers the last “Hnamadar” and “Khan Kha Taung”. #SAC_free. “Mee Wa” was confiscated after nearly two years of attacks. Today Paletwa is controlled by the AA. Salute the Arakkha soldiers for their courage, obedience and smooth cooperation. #3BHA#Operation1027 pic.twitter.com/IaCnenjHUa

— Operation 1027-3BHA (@operation1027) January 14, 2024

The AA says it has about 30,000 soldiers and is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’Ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which launched a major offensive against the military in late October .

The offensive known as Operation 1027 has begun Control wrested away of key cities and military outposts near the border with China in the north, giving new impetus to the anti-coup movement.

Dr. Sasa, the international cooperation minister in the government of national unity installed by politicians deposed in the coup, welcomed the AA’s capture of Paletwa.

“This is a significant achievement for the National Revolution, the Spring Revolution of Myanmar, the struggle for the liberation of the entire population of Myanmar from the genocidal military dictatorship and for the restoration of Myanmar to the path of an inclusive federal democratic union for ALL,” he wrote on X .

42. City that falls

The AA’s move comes days after China announced it had brokered a ceasefire between armed groups and the military in northern Shan State. A similar agreement in December quickly collapsed.

The AA fought against the military in Rakhine, where a brutal military reigns crackdown on the Rohingya in 2017 is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice attempting to secure the autonomy of its ethnic population.

Shortly before Myanmar’s national elections in November 2020, the AA agreed to a ceasefire with the military, but when the generals took power, the AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), seized the opportunity to assert its power To expand and consolidate Rakhine and Rakhine Fighting resumed amid military concerns about the AA’s growing power.

Chin State lies north of Rakhine and Paletwa on the Kaladan River, about 20 km (12 miles) from the border with Bangladesh.

Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s cyber, technology and security program who is mapping the advance of anti-coup forces, said the city was the 42nd city nationally to be captured by the military, with 16 still remaining be fought over.

In addition, 25 battalion headquarters have been captured since the offensive began three months ago, “clearly marking the resistance’s decisive turn toward offensive warfare,” Ruser wrote on X.

The military coup sparked mass rallies demanding the restoration of civilian rule, but when the military responded with brutal force, many responded Protesters took up armsby allying with ethnic armed groups on the country’s borders.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Myanmar advocacy group that is tracking the crisis, says at least 4,363 civilians and pro-democracy activists have been killed by the military and nearly 20,000 people have been detained by the regime in the escalating violence.