By Thai Newsroom Reporters
IN A SURPRISE MYANMAR MILITARY move, Adm. Moe Aung has been immediately removed from the post of navy chief amidst escalated, armed conflict with ethnic rebel forces, especially that in Rakhine state, according to an informed source.
Myanmar junta head/prime minister Myint Aung Hlaing has ordered for the transfer of Adm. Moe Aung and the simultaneous promotion of navy chief-of-staff Adm. Zwe Win Myint as new navy chief.
Adm. Moe Aung has been instead named a national security adviser attached to the Office of the Chairman of the State Administration Council, the post concurrently being held by the Myanmar junta leader himself.
The Myanmar navy currently deploys a fleet of frigates including a couple of Chinese-built ones, a second-hand Kilo-class submarine provided by India, a Chinese-built, Ming-class submarine, Israeli-designed Super Dvora patrol boats and a South Korean-built landing platform dock vessel.
In the meantime, Arakan Army forces have continually launched missile attacks on Danyawaddy naval base in Rakhine state, prompting hundreds of Tatmadaw troops to flee fighting in and around a few townships in the coastal state from where Rohingya villagers have escaped by boat sailing randomly in the Andaman Sea.
That the Arakan rebel forces have reportedly wreaked havoc onto the Tatmadaw naval base and occupied the nearby townships was believed to have prompted the surprise transfer of Adm. Moe Aung as navy chief, according to the informed source.
Apart from the Arakan Army, ethnic rebel forces in Shan state, Kachin state and other parts of Myanmar have reportedly occupied a number of townships and claimed to have liberated people from the Naypyidaw-based junta regime.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A Myanmar police officer stands watch as journalists arrive in Shwe Zar village in the suburb of Maungdaw town, northern Rakhine state of Myanmar, on Sept. 6, 2017. Photo: AP and published by VOA
Front Page: This photo taken on Sept. 24, 2023 shows members of the Karen state Border Guard Forces (BGF) patrolling on the Yangon-Myawaddy section of the Asia Highway road near Kawkareik township.Photo: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images and published by CNA
Also read: Myanmar armed ethnic groups claim key northern town
Myanmar junta to free 9,652 prisoners on humanitarian grounds – state media
Almost 100 Myanmar migrant workers found crammed in a single townhouse
USS Carl Vinson Group now on Philippine port visit
US, Philippine navies conduct joint patrols; so does Chinese navy
Betong customs officials strictly curbing petrol smuggling
Thai tourism needs to learn the lessons of history
