The annual Shanti Mata festival, a Hindu religious observance, was held on a smaller scale in areas controlled by the Arakan Army in Arakan State this year amid fears of military junta airstrikes.

The military junta launched waves of heavy airstrikes near the U Sun Mountain range west of Apaukwa Village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, on the morning of October 20.

Eighteen journalists remained in detention across Myanmar as of September 30, including 17 held by the military regime and one by an unidentified armed group, according to Athan, a Myanmar-based freedom of expression advocacy organisation.

The military junta carried out an airstrike on Kyeintali Town in Gwa Township, Arakan State, dropping two bombs and destroying several residential homes.

Wild elephants have destroyed extensive areas of farmland in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, leaving local farmers facing severe livelihood hardships.

Fierce fighting has erupted between the military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) at three locations near the Regional Operations Command (ROC) in Sittwe, the junta’s last remaining military headquarters in Arakan State.

The military junta has extended martial law for another 90 days in 55 townships across Myanmar where it has lost territorial control, including 15 townships controlled by the Arakan Army (AA).

Financial hardship, a shortage of medical personnel and long distances to hospitals continue to limit access to healthcare in Arakan State, resulting in preventable deaths, including among women giving birth.

Taungup Township in Arakan State is facing severe rice shortages, affecting the livelihoods of local residents and internally displaced people (IDPs), according to locals and relief workers.

A military junta airstrike on the upper Laymyo River area in Paletwa Township, Chin State, has killed at least seven people and injured many others, according to local sources.

Arakanese political parties, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and junta-appointed Arakanese ministers attended the ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), held in Nay Pyi Taw on October 11 and 12.

Although the total number of armed clashes across Myanmar has declined compared with previous years, military operations and conflict zones are expanding significantly, according to an analytical report by BNI - Myanmar Peace Monitor.

Continued military airstrikes across Arakan State have forced schools to close in Ponnagyun, Werathani and Kyauktaw townships, disrupting local children’s education, community sources reported.

The family of a 15-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted in Yinyekan Village, Werathani Township, an area under Arakan Army control in Arakan State, is demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of the suspect, who remains at large.

Women in Myanmar face shrinking access to employment, formal education and vocational training compared with men, according to a statement released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Arakan Army (AA) seized five Myanmar military outposts in western Myanmar's Arakan (Rakhine) State between October 9 and 15, while the state recorded the highest number of military airstrike incidents targeting civilians nationwide, according to a new report by Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica (NLTA).

More than 400 Arakanese people deported from Malaysia after serving sentences remain detained under heavy security by the military junta in Yangon and have been prevented from returning to Arakan State, according to sources close to the detainees.

Continued bombardment by the military junta using airstrikes, heavy artillery and naval gunboats in Werathani Township amid the ongoing battle for Sittwe has severely disrupted local fishing activities, plunging residents into a deep livelihood crisis, locals reported.

Escalating clashes along the Sittwe and Ponnagyun border, coupled with relentless junta airstrikes, have pushed internally displaced people (IDPs) who rely on casual labor into a severe livelihood crisis.