Lieutenant General Naing Naing Oo has been appointed as the new commander of Bureau of Special Operations No. 3 (BSO-3). In this role, he will oversee both the Western and Southwestern Regional Commands, coordinating the junta’s military operations against the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan (Rakhine) State and Ayeyarwady Region.
Before this reassignment, Lieutenant General Naing Naing Oo headed BSO-2, where he was responsible for operations in northern Shan State. Analysts said he earned the regime’s confidence following operational gains during his tenure there.
Captain Zin Yaw, a former junta officer who later joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)—an anti-coup campaign where civil servants and security personnel refuse to work under the regime—commented that the appointment appears driven more by loyalty than by military competence.
“He personally visited northern Shan State frontline areas like Taungkham and Naungcho (Nawngkhio) to boost troops’ morale. Even though he had early setbacks during the northern Shan State fighting, he managed to recover and later claim what the regime considers notable successes. He may not be the strongest tactician, but he was widely seen as the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing’s lucky charm,” he said.
Lieutenant General Naing Naing Oo was previously removed from his post as commander of the Northeastern Regional Command in Lashio during the early phase of Operation 1027, when many towns and battalion bases were lost to the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s coordinated offensive against the junta. After that, he was reassigned to lead BSO-2 operations targeting the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the alliance members.
Despite his new assignment to the Arakan front, some observers remain doubtful about whether the change in command will significantly alter the situation on the ground.
“I heard he’s been placed in charge of BSO-3 to handle the Arakan front. Maybe the regime is hoping he can bring similar results he achieved in northern Shan State. But the AA is a different kind of force entirely. I don’t think this move will change much in practice,” said a military observer from Arakan State.
Fighting between regime forces and the AA is currently ongoing in Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships. In Arakan State, under the Western Regional Command’s area of responsibility, only three townships—Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung—remain under junta control.
Meanwhile, in Ayeyarwady Region, which falls under the Southwestern Regional Command, the regime faces coordinated offensives from the AA-led resistance coalition in five townships: Laymyethna, Ingapu, Yekyi, Thabaung, and Pathein. AA and allied groups also control sections of the strategic Pathein–Monywa Road.
Recent clashes around Setsetyo and Pantawgyi villages in Laymyethna Township have intensified, drawing junta airstrikes that damaged and destroyed civilian homes in the area.
