RAKHINE STATE – The Arakan Army (AA) announced on December 17 midnight that they had captured hundreds of prisoners of war during their ongoing assault on the junta Western Command in Ann Township and urged the junta forces again to surrender if they wished to survive.
In a video recording short of two minutes published on December 17, hundreds of junta forces captured by the AA were seen walking together tied up. There were also military family members among those captured.
“The earlier you surrender, the earlier you will survive and reunite with your loved ones,” AA wrote on the screen.
In addition, the destruction of the Western Command going up in flames could also be seen in the recording.
AA also released a recording on December 16 showing many junta forces surrendering, calling it the reality of the Western Command, and had similarly warned the junta forces to surrender quickly.
It was also seen that there were injuries among the POWs captured by AA.
The Arakan Army is conducting offensives to capture the remaining junta based on Gwa and the Western Command, the last junta base in Ann. If AA captured the Western Command, it would be the second Military Command lost by the junta council.
The junta regime lost the first military command in its history in August when MNDAA and allied forces captured the North East Command in Lashio.
