The Arakan Student’s Union, a group of Muslim students and the Arakan Students’ Union (Universities – Yangon) issued a joint statement on December 23 condemning a series of suspected crimes in Arakan State as acts of sabotage intended to divide the state’s people.

Bundles of paddy belonging to a Muslim farmer from Nagayar village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township were reportedly set on fire Thursday night.

Officials are awaiting the results of a lab test to determine the reason for the deaths of a large number of swine in some Arakan State townships, according to the state’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department. 

A teenage suspect has been arrested and three men are still at large in a case involving the killing of a General Administration Department (GAD) employee in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, according to the Maungdaw Myoma police station. 

Mass civilian displacement has continued in Sagaing Region and Kayin State over the past 10 days as villagers have fled Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) airstrikes amid conflict between the junta and Peoples Defence Forces (PDFs), as well as ethnic armed groups.  

Covid-19 “Safe Service” certificates have been issued to 66 hotels and guesthouses across Arakan State, according to the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism (DHT). 

Junta forces fired heavy weapons on Thay Baw Bo village, south of Myawaddy town in Kayin State, early Thursday morning, destroying some houses and forcing local residents to flee to the Thai border. 

Conservationists are calling for more resources committed to ranger patrols to protect elephants and other wildlife in the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range in Gwa Township, Arakan State’s only wild elephant sanctuary. 

Experts say authorities need to be wary of the growing presence of microplastics in seawater off the coast of Arakan State. 

Police in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, have arrested four suspects in connection with the killing of a General Administration Department (GAD) employee, according to the Maungdaw District police force. 

Deposed Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu and the state’s former minister for municipal affairs, U Min Aung, have been hit with an additional charge under Section 130(a) of the Penal Code, according to their lawyer. 

Four suspects have been detained by the Arakan Army (AA) for their alleged involvement in an attack on cows belonging to a farmer in Mucha village, Mrauk-U Township, earlier this week, according to the owner of the cattle. 

Seventy-seven Muslims, including children, from Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township who were reportedly heading to Yangon were arrested in Taungup Township on December 22. 

Regime forces sealed off the home of a second-year nursing student who is also a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) participant in Nyaung Kone village, part of Yangon Region’s Hlegu Township. 

Construction work on the Khami Kyein Chaung reservoir, located about 11 miles from Ponnagyun town in Arakan State, began in 2014-15, but it has yet to supply water despite the project breaking ground more than six years ago. 

The Karen National Union (KNU) on December 20 asked the United Nations to designate a “no-fly zone” in Kayin State, saying the Myanmar military had used excessive force including airstrikes in recent clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) during fighting centred around the town of Lay Kay Kaw. 

The prosecution witnesses and five former Arakan State ministers including ousted Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, who have been charged under Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law, have already been questioned, according to lawyers involved in the case. 

A nursing home in the Arakan State capital Sittwe is in need of healthcare helping hands, according to officials from the elderly care facility. 

Flower growers in Arakan State say they need technical assistance in order to prosper amid rising fertiliser prices and other difficulties in post-coup Myanmar.