The Myanmar military has been tightening security checks on locals and travellers in some Arakan State townships since June, according to residents.

More than 500 people were forced to flee their homes due to heavy artillery fire as a military convoy passed through villages on the Dawei-Htee Khee road in Tanintharyi Region on July 6.

Two Muslim teenage boys from Paungtoke village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township were injured in a landmine explosion on Friday afternoon. 

A corpse bound with rope was found washed ashore in the Pauktaw Township village of Thae Khone on Friday morning, according to residents.

Fighting between Myanmar’s military regime and anti-junta forces in Kayah State last month killed at least six people, injured 22 more and destroyed 12 homes, including two religious buildings, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) said on July 1.

Myanmar military airstrikes on an Arakan Army camp near the Myanmar-Thailand border killed six AA members and injured others.

The junta-controlled committee supervising import, storage and distribution of fuel in Myanmar on Thursday instructed filling stations to sell at fixed prices, and also threatened legal action against those that fail to do so.

A court on July 7 postponed a hearing in the case of a man and woman in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu who have been charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha has described recent Myanmar military exercises off the coast of Arakan State as a threat to the ethnic armed group and Arakanese people. 

A male porpoise was found dead on Sittwe Beach in the Arakan State capital on Tuesday evening, according to the head of the Sittwe District Fisheries Department, U Oo Tun Thein.

Young betel nuts from Arakan State are fetching good prices thanks to high demand from China, Malaysia and Thailand, according to residents.

The Sittwe District Court on Wednesday sentenced five men from Kyaukseik village, Ponnagyun Township, and its vicinity to three years in prison with hard labour under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law.

Locals in Kyaikto Township, Mon State, are worried that fighting will intensify as the Myanmar military is sending reinforcements to the area.

Myanmar’s military regime, which plans to hold a general election next year, is conducting training on proportional representation (PR) electoral systems for members of the election subcommissions in Arakan State, according to U Thurein Htut, secretary of the Arakan State election subcommission.

The number of local farmers in Arakan State who have access to agricultural loans provided by the state-owned Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank has declined year after year since 2020, according to a bank official.

Three people including the political and social activist Ko Zaw Win aka Ludu Zaw Win, who were detained by the Myanmar military last month, were reportedly transferred to Kyauktaw Myoma police station on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Arakan Army (AA) says it will retaliate for the killing of six of its soldiers in airstrikes by the Myanmar military on its camp near the Myanmar-Thailand border on Monday.

Fifty-five border trade cargo vessel crew who returned from Bangladesh to the Arakan State capital Sittwe were screened for coronavirus on Monday morning, with three of them testing positive, according to the Arakan State Public Health Department.

Developing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is key to reducing brain drain and boosting the economy of Arakan State, entrepreneurs in the state say.