Arakan State News Summary (September 8-15, 2022)

By DMG 15 Sep 2022

8 September

• Renewed fighting and rising military tensions between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) reportedly forced the closure of about 50 public schools in three Arakan State townships.
• Family members have not been allowed to see a man from Htan Chaung village in Ann Township, who was arrested by the Myanmar military a month ago.
• A police officer was shot dead near a public hospital in Sittwe at about 6 p.m.
• U Ba Shwe, a 41-year-old man, from Kunohntaung Village in Kyauktaw Township, was severely injured in a landmine blast after he stepped on a landmine while returning from a cow stable about one mile from the village. 

9 September

• Myanmar’s military regime is hunting for a brother of the Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha, according to his neighbours.
• Family members of the suspect in a high-profile murder case in the Arakan State capital Sittwe expressed concerns as they had not yet been allowed to see him nearly one month after he was detained.
• Fighting flared between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army near Mee Taik Village in Maungdaw Township, according to locals.
• An event was held to mark the 83^rd anniversary of U Ottama Day in conjunction with a tree planting ceremony and crab release into the creek at U Ottama mangrove forest in Ann Township.
• Thirty-three independent Myanmar media organisations released a joint statement condemning the organisers of a recent regional media forum for allowing a propagandist for Myanmar’s military regime to speak at the forum.
• A local man from Ngapwee Village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township was seriously injured in a landmine blast.
• Eighteen unexploded bombs, believed to date back to World War II, were unearthed within the compound of the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications office in Buthidaung Township. 

10 September

• A civilian was injured when junta troops at a military checkpoint fired shots at two motorcycle riders near Rar Maung Bridge in Minbya Township.
• Family members have not been in contact with two village administrators from Buthidaung Township who were arrested by the Myanmar military a week ago.
• Transport authorities instructed the Shwe Pyi Tan express boat line to suspend its operations between the Arakan State capital Sittwe and Mrauk-U since August 29, according to manager U San Maw Thein.
• The Arakan Army occupied a military camp of the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 352 about three kilometres southeast of Jeitchaung Village in northern Maungdaw Township, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.
• A pregnant woman from Kinseik Village, Mrauk-U Township, who was seriously injured in a shelling incident, miscarried due to complications related to the medicine she was taking. 

11 September

• A fire outbreak at Pann Myaung Village, Minbya Township, resulted in financial losses of K84 million and left dozens of people homeless, according to Rakhine Daily, an Arakan State-based and junta-linked media outlet. Local residents say the actual losses are much higher.
• Myanmar’s military regime has barred local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) from travelling to multiple townships in Arakan State following the renewed fighting with the Arakan Army (AA).
• A local man from Thamin Chayyar Village in Minbya Township was severely wounded in a landmine explosion.
• Efforts are being made to inscribe Mrauk-U on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but the efforts are being delayed due to the current instability in Arakan State. 

12 September

• Military-linked products and services still enjoy high demand in many parts of Arakan State despite recent calls for a boycott of them.
• Village administrators in Arakan State are concerned about their safety following the Myanmar’s regime’s detention of administrators from areas that have seen heightened military tensions between the military and Arakan Army (AA).
• More than 100 internally displaced people (IDPs) at the Myatanzaung displacement camp in Mrauk-U Township are facing livelihood hardships, according to camp officials.
• The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) announced that more than 120 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the anti-dictatorship movement since the coup in Myanmar. 

13 September

• Risking arrest and prosecution with potential imprisonment of up to five years, Muslims in Arakan State continue to attempt to leave the state to work elsewhere in the country or abroad.
• At least seven people were arrested by the Myanmar military in Kyaukphyu in the second week of this month alone, according to locals.
• The regime has been using two passenger ships — originally donated by Japan to facilitate mass transit in Arakan State — to carry food supplies and weapons for its troops, alleged the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the AA.
• There are nearly 200 students who have passed the matriculation exam in the academic year 2021-2022, but many of them have not been allowed to take the University of Medicine exam even though they have applied. 

14 September

• With the passport office in the Arakan State capital Sittwe packed with people desperate to leave Myanmar amid rising unemployment and costs of living, brokers are profiting from the country’s increasingly grim economic outlook.
• The Arakan Army (AA) will impose checks on vehicles and vessels in Arakan State, said AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha, alleging that Myanmar’s military regime has been bringing in reinforcements by both public and private means of transport.
• Local people in Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships rely on the water routes as the military blocked off the land routes. 

15 September

• In an attempt to retake military camps lost to the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar military has launched attacks in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, and Paletwa Township, Chin State, in recent days, according to the spokesman for the ethnic armed group.
• Traditional zat pwe troupe artists in Arakan State are worried that they will have to halt their performances due to the renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA).
• A police officer at Apaukwa Police Station in Kyauktaw Township was reportedly arrested by the Arakan Army.
• Family members of seven detained men in Taungup and Kyaukphyu townships said they are worried about the safety of detainees as they have not been in contact with them since their arrest.
• Ma Htet Htet Khine, a freelance journalist working for the BBC’s charity arm in Myanmar, who was detained in August of last year, was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour for incitement and illegal association.