Fighting between junta troops and the combined forces of ethnic Karen armed organisations and resistance groups raged on Wednesday as the latter tried to seize a strategic junta outpost in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, and the regime responded with air strikes.

Some local residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have complained that the township electricity office has been wrongly charging them for electricity units that they did not use.

The Myanmar military stands accused of killing three people and detaining a total of 37 residents — 24 men and 13 women — from Kadetgyi and Gotinn villages in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region, and the whereabouts of the detainees remain unknown, according to locals.

The Arakan Army (AA) said the Myanmar military has arrested 40 residents in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun and Sittwe townships amid ongoing military tensions with the ethnic armed group.

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), announced on June 26 that locals in Kyaikto Township, Mon State, should be careful not to travel too close to military convoys.

Myanmar citizens undertaking international travel can apply for electronic Covid-19 vaccination certificates in English, according to the military regime’s Ministry of Health.

The number of people killed or injured by landmines while searching for food in forests has increased in Arakan State, with more and more internally displaced people (IDPs) being forced to forage lately due to food shortages at their displacement camps. 

Thousands of locals in Bago Region’s Kyaukkyi and Mone townships were displaced by fighting on June 26. (Photo: KNU Central)

The Arakan Army (AA) says the Myanmar military has recently detained 32 innocent civilians from Sittwe, Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships.

The Myanmar military has reportedly arrested two residents of Muyin village in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army (AA). 

Family members are worried about the safety of people recently arrested by the Myanmar military in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships because they have not been allowed to meet the detainees, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Townships in northern Arakan State have recently been subjected to strict military inspections, making it difficult for locals to travel, according to locals.

Residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have voiced concern over the potential proliferation of counterfeit banknotes after the recent discovery of K350,000 in bogus bills. 

The Myanmar military fired artillery shells into two villages in Mon State’s Bilin Township, killing a female schoolteacher and her baby and injuring another woman, according to local sources.

Residents of Rathedaung Township are having to repair the local Zedipyin-Maw Htet bridge with their own money after the military regime refused to fund the fixes.

People displaced by fighting near the new town of Lay Kay Kaw in Myawaddy Township, Kayin (Karen) State, are currently in need of shelter and food, according to aid workers. 

Diesel prices have risen sharply since the Myanmar military seized power, this week hitting around K500 more per litre than the price of petrol.

The Shwe Pyi Tan ferryboat service on Friday suspended all of its operations across Arakan State until further notice as the regime is conducting extensive searches and has made several arrests following the abduction of two junta soldiers earlier this week.

Myanmar’s junta has detained at least 20 people in Sittwe, including the administrator of Anauk Sanpya ward, after the Arakan Army (AA) detained a Myanmar military captain and a private in the Arakan State capital on Thursday, according to locals.