Arakan Army launches second recruitment drive in Rakhine State as counteroffensive intensifies

The Arakan Army (AA) began compiling lists of eligible males, aged 18-45, and females, aged 18-35, to be recruited in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township on Sunday. Both males and females are subject to at least two years of mandatory service if living in territory seized by the AA since it launched its offensive in November 2023. A Thandwe resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the AA has been distributing brochures to announce the recruitment drive. This is the second round of forced recruitment by the AA since March 2025. Thandwe, located 160 miles (260 km) south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, was seized by the AA in 2024. The AA enacted its “National Defence Emergency Provision” on March 18, 2025, which placed a travel ban on eligible residents from leaving Arakan “until the emergency period caused by the ongoing conflict ends.” Sources told DVB that females were excluded from the first round of forced recruitment by the AA in 2025, while recruits were selected by lottery—where the eligible residents were randomly chosen to serve. The method of selection for the second round hasn’t been announced yet. The total number of residents recruited was not disclosed by the AA after its first round. The AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha did not respond to a DVB request for comment. The AA’s second round of forced recruitment comes amid an ongoing regime counteroffensive in Arakan’s Thandwe, Ponnagyun, Kyaukphyu and Sittwe that began on Sept. 4. Ponnagyun, located 20 miles (32 km) north of Sittwe, was seized by the AA in 2024. Kyaukphyu is located 317 miles (510 km) south of Sittwe. The regime’s Arakan State administration ordered the forced recruitment of 20 Rohingya youths per month from five Rohingya wards in Sittwe in August. Under the regime’s conscription law, enforced in February 2024, eligible males aged 18–35 and females aged 18–27 face a mandatory two-years of military service. Specialists up to age 45 face three-years. The AA has seized 14 out of Arakan’s 17 townships, as well as neighboring Chin State’s Paletwa Township, before expanding its offensive into neighbouring Ayeyarwady, Bago and Magway regions in 2025. Besides Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, Manaung is the only other township under regime control in the state. The post Arakan Army launches second recruitment drive in Rakhine State as counteroffensive intensifies appeared first on DVB.