The junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing accused the Arakan Army (AA) of harming the Arakanese people, in a speech he gave about national security issues, on 5 July 2024.
He said: "90 percent of Arakan State’s population is Arakanese people, so the destructive actions of the AA leaders are deemed to harm their own people.”
He also accused the AA of damaging the society, economy, education and health care of Arakanese people with its attacks on the junta's military bases in northern Arakan (Rakhine) State. He also claimed that it was solely the AA’s fault that fighting had spread from northern Arakan to the southern townships of Arakan State.
He claimed: “The AA launched an attack on the Done Pike Border Guard Police (BGP) outpost in Rathedaung Township in Arakan State on 13 November 2023, sparking the ongoing instabilities.”
Development Media Group (DMG) has contacted the AA about these accusations but is still awaiting a response.
An Arakanese politician gave a counter-narrative, saying that the AA’s military campaign is being carried out to improve the welfare of the oppressed Arakanese people.
"I believe that the AA chose the path of armed resistance because of national needs. It is logical for an ethnic group that has been oppressed for about 70 years under the rule of dictators to choose revolution when it is marginalised in all aspects of the economy and politics. If the AA had not existed, another Arakanese armed resistance struggle would have emerged”, he said.
U Pe Than, a political and military analyst, said that the speech showed the junta is struggling in the aftermath of the coup and is blaming resistance forces like the AA because it cannot accept responsibility for its own failings.
He said: “All the current developments are the consequences of the coup. The coup was the real culprit that triggered widespread armed uprisings against the junta all over the country. The junta is simply blaming others for its own mistakes.”
In his speech Min Aung Hlaing also said that he intends to work with the local communities to restore peace in areas that have become unstable due to armed resistance.
But, politicians and analysts have said that the junta’s plans of trying to re-take lost territory with the help of local communities in areas like Rakhine State would be impossible to carry out and doomed to failure.
Since the resurgence of fighting in Arakan State in November 2023, the AA has taken up to 10 townships and is still fighting to take control of Thandwe and Maungdaw townships.
