Global Situation Board
Actor · non-state · Indo-Pacific & South Asia

Arakan Army

4High
Assessed 15 September 2026

Assessment

The Arakan Army holds 14 of Rakhine State's 17 townships plus Paletwa with a force estimated at about 40,000, and as of Sept 15 had conceded no territory or outposts to the junta's Operation 4926, repelling columns at Ponnagyun and intercepting a junta advance from Awa Taung village near the Taung Maw Oo naval station in Kyaukphyu Township on Sept 9 and 10 while seizing weapons and ammunition, and capturing three junta outposts in Ayeyarwady's Laymyethna Township by Sept 12. It governs as the ULA with conscription and curfews, faces a BHRN allegation of forced labour of more than 300 Rohingya in northern Maungdaw that it denies, and has pledged to protect Chinese and Indian projects including the Kyaukphyu port and pipelines without issuing any statement on the port during the September fighting.

Recent, assessed

  • 2026-09-14Burma News International reports the Arakan Army repelling renewed junta advances across Kyaukphyu Township and seizing weapons, ammunition and equipment near the Taung Maw Oo naval station and the villages of Kyaungkho, Chaungphyar and Minpyin. bnionline.net

Level history

Threat level after each research review13 September 2026 out-of-cycle review: level 4; 14 September 2026 weekly review: level 4; 15 September 2026 weekly review: level 41234513 September 2026, out-of-cycle review: level 414 September 2026, weekly review: level 415 September 2026, weekly review: level 413 Sep14 Sep15 Septoday

Levels set by research reviews. A level set by hand is shown at the top of the page while it is in force and is not part of this history.

DateLevelReview
2026-09-154Weekly review
2026-09-144Weekly review
2026-09-134Out-of-cycle review

Latest headlines 3

Matched to this entry by keyword from the pull of 19 Sep, 11:09 UTC. Not reviewed; some may be off-topic.