Arakan State residents are deleteriously cutting down mangroves growing along the state’s coast to earn a living, say organisations working to conserve the valuable shoreline forests.

One woman and three men from Thaekam Htaunt village in Arakan State’s Ann Township were wounded when two artillery shells landed and exploded in and near the village on July 26, according to locals.

The number of women charged under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law or related legislation amid ongoing conflict between the military and the Arakan Army has reportedly risen to at least five.

The military faces attacks not only from non-state armed groups but also media organisations when conducting security operations in Arakan State, a spokesperson for the Tatmadaw True News Information Team has claimed.

Voter lists for people living at displacement camps not officially recognised by the government in Arakan State will be announced at their host townships’ election sub-commission offices, the Arakan State Election Sub-Commission has said.

An influenza outbreak has been reported among some sheltering at camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, according to officials tasked with overseeing the camps.

Lawmakers have recently criticised that the 2020 general elections will not be free and fair in Arakan State.

Three women from Kyaukphyu Township’s Yay Nan Dwein village who were arrested by the military this week are being held at the Kyaukphyu Myoma police station, according to the village administrator and a lawmaker.

Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, Municipal Affairs Minister U Win Myint and Chin Ethnic Affairs Minister U Pone Bwe will contest the 2020 election for the National League for Democracy (NLD), according to a July 23 announcement from the ruling party’s Central Executive Committee.

Hundreds of basic education high schools throughout Arakan State do not meet the required standards for COVID-19 preventive measures, according to state education officials.

Ethnic Myanmar nationals in Japan staged a protest in Tokyo on July 23 calling for truth and justice over the unlawful killing of civilians by the Tatmadaw in ethnic parts of Myanmar.

The Kamayut Township Court has sentenced two Arakanese student activists charged under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law to one month in prison.

More than 230 schools have yet to reopen in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, where clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army are an ongoing concern, according to the township education office.

Residents of more than 60 villages along the upper reaches of the Kaladan River in Paletwa Township, Chin State, are in urgent need of food and medicine, according to locals.

The search continues for a person who had close contact with coronavirus Case No. 339 in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, said Dr. Than Tun Oo, superintendent of the Kyauktaw Township Hospital.

Six Muslims from Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships who entered Arakan State illegally from Bangladesh were sentenced to six months in prison and fined K100,000 (US$69) by respective township courts on July 21.

Residents of Paletwa, Chin State, say they have been subjected to property taxes that are over four times higher than the regular rates of previous years.

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) has come in for criticism for allegedly doing little to address a growing stack of complaints about reported human rights violations in Arakan State.

Residents from more than 30 villages in Manaung Township, Arakan State, are struggling to receive healthcare services as the Sarchat station hospital has no doctors, according to the residents.