The Arakan Army says it’s achieved its aim of driving the regime out of Chin State’s Paletwa Township, following several months of intense fighting in the township bordering Rakhine State and the Indian state of Mizoram. In an update posted to its official Telegram channel, the group showed their soldiers standing with the Arakan national flag raised before the township General Administration Department office, police station, fire station and municipal office. “There is not a single military council camp left in the entire Palewa area,” the group’s Telegram update read.

On Thursday, the AA unveiled a massive weapons haul taken from Light Infantry Battalion 289’s base in Paletwa Township, posting a series of pictures on Telegram showing its troops alongside some major hardware. Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage in Rakhine, with incidents reported in Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Ramree, Maungdaw, Rathedaung townships and even in the state capital Sittwe, where rumours abound of an attack on the airport. The next-most dramatic development occurred in Kyauktaw Township, where some 300 soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion 539 reportedly surrendered to the AA, according to local outlets Narinjara and Western News.

India: Junta’s safe haven
State media reported that the junta’s new national security advisor Moe Aung met Indian ambassador Vinay Kumar in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday. They supposedly discussed “bilateral friendship and cooperation, acceleration of development projects”, as well as “bilateral collaboration for the peace and stability of the border areas shared by the two countries.”

There have also been increasing reports of Tatmadaw troops taking shelter in Indian territory, including this latest incident caught on camera in Mizoram state. India Today Northeast reports that the 278 soldiers were taken in by the Assam Rifles with the wounded sent to a hospital in Aizawl.

While this is par for the course for India, which has quietly stood by the regime since the coup, there was a more interesting reported development in Chin State. Local outlet The Chin Journal said the Assam Rifles paid a visit to Rihkawdar, which has been under resistance control since late November. Perhaps with the resistance on its doorstep, India’s engagement is becoming more flexible.

Northern Shan victory lap In northern Shan State, the AA’s allies are getting to work installing their own administration in towns seized during Operation 1027, following the China-brokered ceasefire with the military on January 11.Flexing his newfound powers, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army’s general secretary Bhone Kyaw visited Kutkai and Namtu towns yesterday, telling residents in a town hall meeting that the TNLA will restore telecommunication lines and electricity and re-open the general hospital, Myanmar Now reported.The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army also held a town hall meeting at an unspecified location, during which officials discussed “restoring public order”. Participants also presented their concerns to MNDAA officials, according to a report in Chinese published in the group’s propaganda outlet The Kokang. In a slightly more worrying development, BBC Burmese reported that the MNDAA is not allowing Bamar residents who fled the fighting to return to the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. Military’s winter of discontent An ultranationalist monk publicly called for junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to resign as commander-in-chief during a protest in Mandalay Region’s Pyin Oo Lwin on Tuesday, BBC reports. Pyin Oo Lwin is the site of key military institutions including the Defence Services Academy, making the monk’s speech all the more provocative. A video of the protest that has gone viral on social media shows Pauk Sayardaw asking the crowd if Min Aung Hlaing should be replaced by his deputy, Vice Senior General Soe Win. “Give the commander-in-chief position to the deputy chief, and the current chief will only hold the position of prime minister,” the monk said.As Frontier’s latest feature shows, this discontent is not limited to angry rabble rousers. After overseeing unprecedented losses on the battlefield in northern Shan and now Rakhine, Min Aung Hlaing is facing unprecedented opposition from within his own ranks.These summaries are drawn from our Daily Briefing, which informs our members every weekday about current affairs in Myanmar, and from our Media Monitor, which features translations of headlines and stories in Myanmar-language media. Take a free trial of the newsletters here.