Ethnic political parties are concerned that the 2020 election may not be held in ethnic areas where armed conflict is ongoing.

The swab tests of 13 people who had close contact with a man who tested positive for COVID-19 last week in Sittwe have come back negative, according to the Department of Public Health in Arakan State.

Residents of Pain Nae Daw village in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township are not being allowed to venture outside the village and are facing risk of food shortages as a result.

Two civilians were killed and three others were injured on June 26 when artillery shells believed to have been fired by the Tatmadaw landed in Nat Maw village, Ann Township, according to residents.   

A young woman from Sa Nyin village in Myebon Township, Arakan State, lost one of her legs after stepping on a landmine on June 27, according to residents.

Bilateral border trade with Bangladesh has been suspended after a coronavirus case was reported in Sittwe, Arakan State, according to a local business group.

A total of 435 tonnes of bamboo from Arakan State, worth US$34,800, was exported to Bangladesh in the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to the Maungdaw border trade camp.

An artillery shell explosion at Pyaing Taung Muslim village in southern Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, killed an 11-month-old baby and seriously injured the father on June 25.

Five advocacy organisations have called on the government to take effective action against perpetrators of human rights violations, torture and sexual abuse.

At least two homes in Kyein Thar village, in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, were set ablaze at about noon on June 26, according to locals. 

Schools are being built on a self-reliant basis at some Arakan State camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) to help children pursue their educations.

A man from Kyauktwingone village in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, died of a gunshot wound on June 25, according to local residents. 

The internet blackout affecting a large swath of Arakan State and part of neighbouring Chin State is causing delays in procedural aspects of the region’s COVID-19 response, according to Dr. Saw Min Thein, superintendent of Buthidaung Township Hospital.

Two activists from Kyaukphyu town, Arakan State, are facing charges under Section 19 of Myanmar’s Peaceful Assembly Law after uploading photos on social media in which they are pictured wearing matching T-shirts that read, “Oppose internet oppression”. 

Three young men, the sons of military personnel in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, were abducted by the Arakan Army and its supporters this week, the Tatmadaw said in a statement on June 25. 

A letter signed by the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs has urged residents of Kyauktan village and its surrounding environs in Rathedaung Township to temporarily leave their homes as the Tatmadaw will launch what it described as “clearance operations” against the Arakan Army. 

Myanmar citizens living in Japan staged a protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on June 25, calling for an end to military offensives in Arakan and Chin states.

A court in Ramree Township has sentenced a leading member of a local youth network to 15 days in prison or a K20,000 (US$13.80) fine after he organised a protest against a one-year-old internet ban affecting several Arakan State townships.

Thousands of residents from villages in the southern part of Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, have fled their homes after artillery shells allegedly fired by the Tatmadaw landed in their villages on June 24.