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

By DMG 23 Sep 2022

16 September
 Local residents of Aung Mingalar Village in northern Maungdaw Township felt compelled to flee their homes after a large number of junta soldiers and border guard police searched their village.
 Junta troops fired shots at a vehicle carrying the well-known social activist Ko Ann Thar Gyi in Mrauk-U Township.
 The Arakan Army (AA) attacked a support ship belonging to the Myanmar military with heavy weapons in Taungup Township at around 2 p.m., according to local people.
 Myanmar’s military regime barred local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) from travelling to multiple townships in Arakan State following the renewed fighting between junta troops and the Arakan Army over recent weeks.

17 September
 Deputy commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army (AA) Dr. Nyo Twan Awng on his website wrote that the time was now for a decisive and final battle, a statement widely viewed as a battle cry against Myanmar’s military regime.
 The Paletwa Township administrator has instructed internally displaced people (IDPs) who are currently sheltering in downtown Paletwa to return home next month, and a list is being collected as to whether they want to return home or not.
 Life has become increasingly difficult for many residents of Arakan State as the Myanmar military regime’s blockading of key road and water routes has continued, in some cases for months.
 Veteran Arakanese politician and former Arakan State lawmaker U Pe Than was charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law over an interview he gave to DMG recently.
 The Myanmar military and Arakan Army accused each other of having fired a mortar shell that landed in Bangladesh on the evening of September 16, killing a teen Muslim refugee from Myanmar and injuring six others.

18 September
 The Myanmar military took two men from their homes in Taungup Township, where military tensions are currently running high, according to locals.
 Family members have called on authorities to allow them to visit inmates detained in prisons across Arakan State as many relatives say they’ve not been able to meet with their loved ones since the third wave of Covid-19 struck last year.
 A meeting between members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) was held in Panghsang, Wa State.

19 September
 Locals in Arakan State have criticised Myanmar’s military regime for seizing unlicensed motorcycles in many parts of the state while the regime’s motor registration authority has suspended services to issue vehicle licences.
 The Arakan Army (AA) does not cooperate militarily with anti-regime groups under the umbrella People’s Defence Force (PDF) banner, but “it does assist in social issues,” the AA spokesman said amid ongoing speculation about the Arakanese ethnic armed group’s place in the opposition movement.
 The United League of Arakan (ULA) will assist in the relief aid deliveries of local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to internally displaced people (IDPs), according to the spokesman of the Arakan Army, the armed wing of the ULA.
 The Arakan Army will officially reveal its policy on the crisis facing the state’s Muslim population when it can hold official talks on the international stage as the legitimate government of Arakan, the AA spokesman said during a press conference.
 Myanmar’s military regime has deployed 9,000 to 10,000 soldiers and police in Maungdaw Township, where military tensions are running high, Arakan Army spokesman U Khaing Thukha said at an online press conference.
 Action is being taken against the perpetrators in the murder of a young woman who was stabbed to death last month near the government offices in Sittwe, said U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson for the Arakan Army, at an online press conference.
 Ko Kyaw Zan Wai aka Ko Yin Hsot, a man from Mrauk-U who was arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and National Unity Government (NUG), and was subsequently charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, appeared before the district court, family members said.
 The Myanmar military reportedly took Ko Zaw Myo Tun aka Nga Pwa, a resident of Kai Shay Ward in Taungup, and U Myint Hlaing, chairman of Kai Shay social organisation, for questioning.
 Some homes in Mrauk-U town were reportedly damaged as the Myanmar military directed heavy weapons and small arms fire into residential areas at around 11 p.m.

20 September
 Myanmar’s military regime imposed tightened checks at a security checkpoint run by military police at an entrance to the Arakan State capital Sittwe, according to drivers and travellers.
 Four people were injured in Nagara Village, Kyauktaw Township, when their house was struck by an artillery shell fired by junta troops at around 4:30 p.m., according to villagers.
 Local residents in Arakan State have complained about skyrocketing air fares as ticket prices have as much as doubled for domestic air travel.
 The Myanmar military arrested two men in downtown wards of Minbya at around 2 p.m., according to residents.
 Myanmar military and police personnel detained Ko Mrat Thu Tun aka Ko Phoe Thiha, a former reporter, near Latkauk bazaar in Mrauk-U at about 1 p.m.
 The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) has urged the members of fellow Arakanese parties and armed organisations to work under its umbrella, while hinting that it would not accept a merger.
 The Myanmar military regime’s Arakan State Administration Council warned some business owners in Arakan State not to financially support the Arakan Army (AA), according to business owners.
 The Myanmar military has arrested at least 13 people over a two-week period in Kyaukphyu, Manaung, Taungup and Ann townships on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army, according to U Khaing Thukha, a spokesman for the ethnic armed group.

21 September
 Three new Covid-19 variant cases were reported between September 10 and 20 in Arakan State after several months of no reported cases in the state, according to the junta-controlled Ministry of Health.
 Myanmar’s military regime had detained two people in Ramree town, two villagers in Minbya Township and three underage youths in Kyaukphyu Township over the previous two days as junta arrests in Arakan State for alleged Arakan Army (AA) affiliations have accelerated in recent weeks.

22 September
 Measures will be taken to reduce plastic pollution in the sea off the coast of Thandwe and Gwa townships, according to environmentalist Dr. Maung Maung Kyi.
 With the renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State and Paletwa Township, Chin State, the number of civilians arrested on suspicion is also increasing. According to a list compiled by DMG, 140 people were arrested by the Myanmar military in the period from June 2022 to September 21.
 Forty-three Myanmar media agencies and organisations advocating for press freedom released a joint statement urging Facebook’s parent company not to introduce a modified form of its “News Feed” feature in Myanmar, saying it would be detrimental to the country’s information ecosystem.
 The Myanmar military and the Arakan Army clashed for about an hour near Kun Thee Pin Village in northern Maungdaw Township, according to locals.
 The Myanmar military arrested three underage youths in Kyaukphyu, locals said. The three minors were identified as Ko Maung Than Sein, 16, and Ko La Min, 15, from Malakyun Village, and Ko Gadon, 16, from Thabyutaung Village, who was visiting Malakyun Village at the time of the arrests.