BANGKOK -- The Arakan Army (AA), an armed ethnic group in Myanmar, is taking advantage of the monsoon rains sweeping across the country to intensify its offensive against the military regime's troops in Rakhine state, located along the country's western coast and bordering Bangladesh.
The AA attributes its tightening grip on the muddy, rugged terrain to its combination of guerrilla tactics typically favored by rebel armies and conventional military operations, as it targets long-held military outposts, border camps and heavily fortified operational commands that have been pivotal for the military regime to assert its authority.