ONE of the most powerful ethnic minority armed groups battling Myanmar’s army has claimed the capture of the last army outpost in the strategic western town of Maungdaw, it was reported on Monday.

The capture gives the groups full control of the 168-mile long border with Bangladesh.

The capture by the Arakan Army makes the group’s control of the northern part of Rakhine state complete, and marks another advance in its bid for self-rule there.

Rakhine has become a focal point for Myanmar’s nationwide civil war, in which pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic minority armed forces seeking autonomy battle the country’s military rulers, who took power in 2021 after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told reporters from an undisclosed location late on Monday that his group had seized the last remaining military outpost in Maungdaw on Sunday.

Outpost commander Brigadier General Thurein Tun was captured while attempting to flee the battle, Khaing Thukha said.

The situation in Maungdaw could not be independently confirmed, with communications in the area mostly cut off.

Myanmar’s military government did not immediately comment.

The Arakan Army is the military wing of the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group in Rakhine state, where they are the majority and seek autonomy from Myanmar’s central government.