Arakan State News Summary (October 16-22, 2022)

By DMG 22 Oct 2022

16 October
 The Myanmar military arrested at least 12 residents in Ramree Township following the Arakan Army’s detention of an ex-military officer on October 15, according to locals.
 Two detainees and two others who had evaded arrest in Maungdaw were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act at the Maungdaw Myoma police station, according to the accused.
 Myanmar’s military regime tightened travel restrictions in northern Arakan State, where tensions continue to escalate between the military and the Arakan Army (AA).

17 October
 Three people died and six others were injured by junta artillery strikes in Minbya Township, according to local residents. Among the victims were children and a schoolteacher.
 A Muslim woman was reportedly killed by a shelling in Paikthel Village, Kyauktaw Township.
 Ko San Tun, a resident of Asoeya ward in Kyaukphyu, was taken from his home by junta soldiers.
 A military convoy was attacked with landmines near Kisppanadi Bridge in Kyauktaw Township.

18 October
 A local man from Daingnetpyin (Muslim) Village in Buthidaung Township was fatally wounded when an artillery shell fell and exploded in the village, with the victim reportedly dying at Buthidaung Hospital while receiving medical treatment that evening.
 Schools were closed in Minbya Township after some locals including a primary school teacher were killed by junta artillery strikes in the township, according to residents.
 At least three civilians were killed and 23 others were injured due to landmines and shooting incidents in Arakan State and Chin State’s Paletwa Township last month amid sustained, renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA), according to a DMG tally.
 The Myanmar military recently detained three civilians including a school principal in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, according to local residents.
 Nine junta soldiers from the military’s Ponnagyun-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 550 defected to the Arakan Army.
 The military detained Daw Than Win, 39, and Daw Phyu Sae Kay, 53, from Htanchaung Village, along with U Nga Pay, 42, from Pyainechaung Village and U Nga Yaung, 52, from Autyangon Village, in Ann Township.

19 October
 The Arakan State Road Transport Administration Department warned that it will soon begin seizing unlicensed three-wheeled taxis in the state.
 A 13-year-old girl was killed by a shelling in Pyainetaw Village, Rathedaung Township.
 At least eight people were killed and 13 others injured in two explosions at notorious Insein Prison in Yangon. Those killed included three prison staff and relatives of political prisoners.
 Of 16 people recently detained by the military in Ramree Township, 15 have been released, but a local man remains under military detention, according to those released.
 Two residents were injured and some homes were damaged by artillery shell shrapnel in Peinhnechaung and Wethmine villages, on the east bank of the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw Township.
 The Arakan National Party (ANP) has reportedly donated 30 bags of rice to scores of households displaced by fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in Buthidaung Township.
 A man from U Hla Pe Village in Buthidaung Township was shot and wounded, and is currently receiving treatment at Buthidaung Hospital, according to local villagers.

20 October
 Myanmar’s military regime has tightened travel restrictions in northern Arakan State, where tensions continue to escalate between the military and the Arakan Army (AA).
 An Arakan Army (AA) military tribunal sentenced two of its soldiers to 20 years in prison with hard labour plus flogging for raping a Muslim woman from Buthidaung Township, according to AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.
 The military detained U Aung Thein Hla, a 40-year-old education employee and U Maung Phyu, a local man from Thayarwa Ward in Chin State’s Paletwa.
 U Ko Ko Naing, a 27-year-old local man from Kazukaing Village in Ann Township, was beaten and taken by junta soldiers for allegedly serving as an informant for the Arakan Army.
 The military council approved the donation of more than 50,000 bags of rice donated by Japan’s Nippon Foundation to IDPs in Arakan State.
 Salah Mauk, a teenager who was herding goats near a security checkpoint in Zawpujah Village in Sittwe Township, was shot dead by military regime forces.

21 October
 Correspondent students from various townships attending Sittwe University have said they are worried that they might not be able to return home after their exams as Myanmar’s military regime has tightened travel restrictions in northern Arakan State.
 The Financial Action Task Force – FATF has announced that Myanmar has been blacklisted in relation to terrorist financing, Nikkei Asia reported.
 A 13-year-old was killed in an attack by a wild elephant in Maungdaw Township, according to residents.
 A junta soldier was abducted by the Arakan Army in Ann Township.

22 October
 As a result of renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) in recent months, many fishermen in Arakan State are no longer comfortable going to the rivers to catch fish, and are making the change to other jobs deemed safer.
 The plaintiff in the case of two youths who have been detained in Kyaukphyu Prison and face trial on incitement charges could not attend a court hearing due to security issues, with the hearing postponed for the eight time, according to a lawyer involved.
 Merchants have complained that the Myanmar military regime’s strict and time-consuming inspections of cargo trucks along the Yangon-Sittwe road are causing them financial losses as perishables like vegetables and fisheries products are spoiling amid transport delays.
 Family members said one of three Grade 4 students who had been missing since Saturday night drowned near View Point Beach in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
 According to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH), a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal may enter Bangladesh and northern Arakan State this week, bringing inclement weather and strong winds.
 According to local residents, junta soldiers invaded a ripe rice field owned by a resident of Phalaungpyin village near Kyatsin Bridge, Minbya Township, without obtaining permission from the owner, and harvested the rice.
 The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar announced that there were at least 40 clashes between the military and the Arakan Army in six Arakan State townships so far this year.