The Arakan Army (AA) has more than 30,000 troops, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 of whom have been deployed to “allied areas,” with the rest in Arakan State, Major General Twan Mrat Naing recently told Asia Times.

The status of a 24-year-old resident of Saittara village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township, who was arrested last year and accused of ties to the Arakan Army (AA), is raising concerns among family members who have not spoken to him for nearly three months. 

A local man from Paletwa, Chin State, who was detained by the Myanmar military late last month and faces charges under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, has reportedly been transferred to Paletwa Township police station from the Arakan State capital Sittwe. 

Illegal logging is rampant in Bawin Chaung village-tract, part of Arakan State’s Gwa Township, according to local sources and evidence obtained by DMG.

Local entrepreneurs in Arakan State say daily power outages are hurting their businesses. That includes electricity-reliant commercial and industrial operations having to be slowed or stopped altogether at times, with the power outages sometimes lasting several hours. 

As Myanmar approaches the one-year anniversary of the military coup that toppled the country’s democratically elected government on February 1, 2021, average citizens are, with few exceptions, reporting that they are notably worse off than they were a year ago. 

Five institutions of higher learning in Myanmar will be upgraded to government technical colleges (GTCs) in the 2022-23 academic year, including one in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State.

Worries are growing over the wellbeing of Ko Tin Tun Aung from Paletwa town, Chin State, who was detained by the Myanmar military and charged with incitement, as his family has not had contact with him for nearly a month.

Construction on an Institute of Sports and Physical Education, the first of its kind in Arakan State, began in 2018, but the project has been beset by delays for three years. 

A school in Myo Ywar village, part of Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, is badly damaged and requires a major reconstruction effort, according to its headmaster.

A Myanmar military officer has filed a lawsuit against Ko Wunna Khwar Nyo, editor-in-chief of Western News, and a reporter from the Arakan State-based news outlet, at the Sittwe District Court.

Children from Nyaung Chaung camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, are reportedly suffering from diarrhoea due to unsafe drinking water. 

More pigs have died of disease in Manaung Township, Arakan State, according to locals. The pigs died of diarrhoea and malnutrition, said Daw Ah Ngel Ma, an affected swine farmer in Theinkon village.

The developer rebuilding homes in Payarpaung village, part of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, which were burnt down during the regional armed conflict from 2018-20, has reportedly suspended operations due to financial difficulties. 

The Department of Higher Education under Myanmar’s military regime has announced that final-year courses for those studying the sciences at the University of Distance Education will be reopened for the 2022 academic year.

Ethnic politicians are concerned that Myanmar’s post-coup peace process will not be successful if it continues in line with the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Students at some schools in northern Arakan State townships such as Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, and Buthidaung have reportedly been singing the Arakha national anthem since last year.

Maung Oo Ba Maung lost his right leg and sustained severe injury to his left leg after stepping on a landmine while foraging for vegetables in the forest near his village of Ahtet Myat Hle in July 2021.

The Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) has allowed residents of Dar Let Chaung village-tract in Arakan State’s Ann Township to carry only a limited amount of rice from January 3, according to locals.