Despite the depletion of forest resources in Arakan State and the need for timely conservation efforts, illegal logging has been increasing during Myanmar’s current political unrest, said Dr. Maung Maung Kyi, chairman of the Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association (RCA). 

More than 1,000 people in Myanmar have been killed by security forces since the military coup on February 1, according to data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Passenger buses and ferryboats plying routes between townships in Arakan State are allowed to operate in accordance with the Covid-19 rules and regulations, Arakan State Minister for Road Transport Police Col. Thet Lwin told DMG.

Civil society organisations in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, are scheduled to supply basic food items such as rice, cooking oil and iodised salt to camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the township for up to six months. 

An automobile crash occurred on Tuesday morning involving a crane truck and a vehicle from the Ywarma ward social welfare association in Gwa Township, which was on its way to Thandwe town to pick up oxygen needed by their township’s hospital. 

The administrator of Padin (Muslim) village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, was abducted by an unidentified group in the early hours of August 17. 

A local from Oo Soon Taung village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was severely injured when he stepped on a landmine while tending his cattle on Tuesday afternoon, according to family members of the victim. 

A temporary suspension of aid deliveries from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State has been resolved, the ICRC told DMG on August 16. 

An 8-year-old boy from Wegyi village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township is suffering from bone cancer and his family say they are in need of financial assistance to get proper treatment for their son.

Dozens of gold bars and K200 million ($122,000) in cash were confiscated at a checkpoint in Maungdaw town, Arakan State, after they were found being transported by a rickshaw on Sunday afternoon.

Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the Arakan State Department of Public Health, has urged the public not to be complacent about coronavirus-related regulations despite a drop in the infection rate and related death toll in the state over recent days. 

Some online money transfer service providers anticipate challenges this week as banks are shuttered at the instruction of the military government.

Government personnel are reportedly inspecting pharmacies in some Arakan State townships. 

More than 12,800 acres of farmland in Arakan State’s Taungup, Thandwe, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships were damaged by floodwaters during the rainy season this year, according to the Arakan Farmers’ Union.

The Arakan Army intends for Muslims in Arakan State to participate more in administrative roles and the police work of the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army, said AA chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing in a wide-ranging interview with Arakkha Media on August 15, as he reflected on the status of the ethnic armed group’s ongoing “revolution.” 

The Arakan Army (AA) says it has instructed its commanders on the ground to avoid military problems in Arakan State at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic and the rainy season are making life difficult for the people.

Civil society organisations in Mrauk-U town are arranging to provide food supplies for IDPs in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, as the pandemic continues to complicate the already tenuous existences of the displaced.  

Residents of Paletwa Township, Chin State, said they are worried about shortages of food and medicines because the motorways and waterways from Paletwa to other townships are closed. 

Some Arakanese political parties say they are ready to cooperate with the Union Election Commission (UEC), which has announced its intention to scrutinise records related to political parties’ funds and assets.