Myanmar’s army is reportedly emptying villages in a western state to boost defenses against rebels

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military has been emptying villages on the outskirts of the capital of the western state of Rakhine as part of an evident effort to defend against expected attacks by a powerful rebel group that has captured most of the surrounding area, according to residents, a local activist group and media reports on Tuesday.

The action over the past few days to defend the state capital, Sittwe, came a week after the Arakan Army, the ethnic armed organization of the state’s Muslim Rohingya minority, vowed to capture the army outposts in the city.

Rakhine is the current hotspot for fighting in Myanmar’s nationwide civil war, in which pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed forces battle the country’s military rulers, who took power in 2021 after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

If the Arakan Army captures Sittwe, it would be the first state capital to fall to the rebel forces. Sittwe is also strategically important as its location offers easy access to the Bay of Bengal.

The Arakan Army, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government, began a largely successful offensive in Rakhine — its home ground — about six months ago, gaining control of nine of 17 townships in Rakhine and one in adjacent Chin state.

In early June that the group declared it would target the military’s outposts in Rakhine’s remaining eight townships. It already controls all three townships bordering Sittwe, about 340 kilometers (235 miles) southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.

A resident of Palin Pyin, a village about 15 kilometers (9 miles) northwest of Sittwe, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that soldiers and civil authorities on Sunday forced the village elders, without