US general visiting Dhaka ahead of Arakan Army offensive in Rakhine

The arrival of a top American general from the US Pacific Command in Dhaka on Monday (March 24) and his meetings with senior Bangladeshi Army officers are aimed at solidifying defensive measures along Bangladesh’s borders with Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where military moves against the military junta are expected to begin soon, according to a report of Northeast News of India.

Lieutenant General Joel ‘JB’ Vowell, Deputy Commanding General for US Army Pacific (USARPAC)—located at Fort Shafter, Hawaii—will land at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport around 10 pm on Monday.

He will be leading a four-member team of other USARPAC officers. The team will return to Hawaii on March 25. Lt Gen Vowell has been on three combat tours in Afghanistan and two in Iraq, including both surge campaigns, says the Northeast News report written by Chandan Nandy.

A three-member team of US officials led by Dhaka-based US Embassy’s Military Attache Lt Col Michael E De Michiei, Lt Col Hunter Gallacher (from the Office of Defense Cooperation) and Major Ian Leonard met Bangladesh Army’s Director General of Operations Brigadier General Mohammad Alimul Amin at the Armed Forces Division under Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus’s office on Sunday.

Bangladesh strategic affairs analysts said that Lt Gen Vowell’s visit is “critical” considering that the Arakan Army might be planning to launch a major military offensive to capture three remaining towns in the Rakhine State – Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Manaung – where the military continues to hold out.

Referring to unconfirmed reports, the Northeast News says the Arakan Army is being backed by a strong covert auxiliary force.

 “Any fighting in the Rakhine State will likely impact Bangladesh. Besides, the Arakan Army will need supply lines open, which can be ensured to some extent by Bangladesh Army units deployed close to the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. It could be that the American military officers seek to take an overview of what kind of assistance the Bangladesh Army units can provide,” a Dhaka-based geopolitical analyst said.

The military developments in the Rakhine State are in many ways linked to the Rohingya issue in which three key elements – a no-fly zone, a safe corridor and the ‘right to protect’ – have figured prominently in negotiations over the Rohingya refugees, the report says.