There has been greater trust and unity of late among the diverse ethnic groups and races in Arakan State, Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha said during the Arakanese ethnic armed group’s monthly press conference on Thursday. 

Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities are taking steps to run a coastal shipping line to promote direct trade between the two countries, according to the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

The prices of consumer goods including rice and fuel have soared in Chin State’s Paletwa, where tensions are escalating between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army, causing hardship for residents. 

Residents of Kyaytaw village, Sittwe Township, are seething after a poultry farmer cut down dozens of acres of mature mangroves that were planted to protect the coastal area against natural disasters. 

Junta-appointed ward and village administrators in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, where junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA) have exchanged fire in recent weeks, say they are prepared to resign amid rising military-AA tensions. 

Junta troop deployments in villages and tightened security checks are severely affecting the livelihoods of local residents in Arakan State. 

A local was killed and two others were injured on Tuesday in junta airstrikes on Dawparpah village near Loilemlay, a town on the border of Shan and Kayah states, according to ground sources. 

Scattered rain is expected in Arakan State due to a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal, with a chance of occasional squalls accompanied by high tide along the Arakan coast, the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. 

The residents of Taung Pauk village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township have fled their homes after junta troops entered the village on Tuesday morning. 

Family members say they have not been in contact with four men in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township since they were arrested by the Myanmar military over recent weeks, and are worried about their safety. 

The Myanmar military seized a villager in Arakan State’s Ann Township on Tuesday morning, alleging that he had illegally transported Muslims, according to local residents. 

Shops removed from the vicinity of the No. 1 police station in the Arakan State capital Sittwe will receive compensatory shop spaces within Mizan Market upon its completion. 

Words about ethnic rights, equality and federalism that come from the mouth of the Myanmar military regime are hollow and will fool no one, critics say.

Rice merchants and businesspeople have said the prices of rice in Arakan State may continue to rise.

The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) has detained a Sittwe resident on suspicion of having been involved in the detention of Lieutenant Colonel Khaing Paw Lin, an ALP executive committee member, and is planning to arrest other related people, said Lt-Col Khaing Kyaw Soe, the ALP information officer.

Without a set schedule for the cuts, power outages are causing significant hardship for the people of Arakan State.

• Local residents and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State have reported a rise in crimes, saying the worrying trend is the result of weak rule of law.

A wild elephant destroyed some houses in Zedi Pyin village, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, on Friday morning, according to local residents.

Myanmar’s military regime has changed the reference exchange rate from 1,850 kyats to 2,100 kyats per dollar, which will lead to a further increase in the prices of imported goods and further appreciation of the US dollar on the open market, say business owners.