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BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 A powerful ethnic minority armed group battling Myanmar’s army in the country’s west claimed Monday to have taken hundreds of government soldiers prisoner when it captured a major command post.<\/p>\n
The Arakan Army, the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, has been on the offensive against army outposts<\/a> in the western state of Rakhine \u2014 its home ground \u2014 for about six months.<\/p>\n The group said in a video statement posted on the Telegram messaging app that soldiers belonging to the military government\u2019s Operational Command No. 15 headquarters in Rakhine\u2019s Buthidaung township surrendered after a siege.<\/p>\n Buthidaung is about 385 kilometers (240 miles) southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar\u2019s second-largest city.<\/p>\n The reported capture of the base could not be independently confirmed. Myanmar’s military government made no immediate comment, and the spokesperson of the Arakan Army did not respond to questions sent by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n The fight in Rakhine is part of the nationwide conflict<\/a> in Myanmar that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.<\/p>\n Despite its advantages in arms and manpower, Myanmar\u2019s army has been on the defensive since October, when an alliance of three ethnic rebel groups<\/a> launched an offensive in the country\u2019s northeast.<\/p>\n The video released by the Arakan Army was described as having been made Saturday. It shows Arakan Army fighters guarding men in military uniforms and civilian clothes, some injured, as they walk through a field and down a roadside accompanied by women and children \u2014 families of soldiers often live at their posts.<\/p>\n A caption accompanying the video says it shows the deputy commander of the group and his troops after a \u201cfinal assault in which (they) faced total defeat and surrendered.\u201d<\/p>\n The video does not specify the total number of captured soldiers and their family members, but in one part about 300 men can be seen sitting in rows in an open field.<\/p>\n In a statement released Sunday, the Arakan Army said it captured the command post Thursday after attacking it for two weeks. It claimed another army post was seized the next day, along with others over the past two months.<\/p>\n The attackers captured \u201cweapons, ammunition, military equipment and surrendered prisoners of war,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n Some parts of the video released Monday show young men who appear to be members of the Muslim Rohingya minority.<\/p>\n