The committee previously contracted the process to tender winners who set the rate at K100 a day. It started collecting tariffs this month but the new tariff is higher and the rate is different from prior ones, a vender said.

A land survey staff member was taken from his house by the police from Myoma police station of Buthidaung around 12 p.m. of October 22 for questioning, the family said.

“A landmine exploded today a furlong away from the east side of our village. Soon after that, they [the Tatmadaw] entered the village, firing guns into the air. We were told to gather in front of them. Then they asked us whether we know the Arakan Army (AA) or were we members of AA. They took our gold jewelry, money and mobile phones with them,” the villager said.

An artillery shell exploded in Apaukwa village, Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State around 5 a.m. of October 23 and injured two people, according to locals.

29 Muslims, who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, have returned to Taungpyo Letwei resettlement camp in Maungdaw District on October 22 under the program of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Arakan State (UEHRD), U Soe Aung, Maungdaw district administrator said.

More than 100 people waged a protest in front of the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo, Japan on 21 October while Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Japan to attend the Japanese emperor’s enthronement ceremony.

“An artillery shell landed near the school around 10 a.m. today. The school is closed because teachers and students are frightened,” U Maung Pu said.

The government should provide educational stipends for the Arakanese refugee students who are in distance education programs, said Ko Zaw Zaw Tun, secretary of Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC).

Although three people including the brother in law of Khaing Thukha, spokesperson of Arakan Army (AA) were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, the Kyauk Phyu District Court decided on October 21 to dismiss law suits unconditionally because no strong evidence can be shown to support the allegation, the lawyer of the accused said.

U Tun Myint,51, and Ko Naing Linn,29, have been taken to No.9 Tatmadaw Training School near Kan Nee village in Minbya Township for questioning, U Maung San, administrator of Chaung Gyi village, told the DMG.

An artillery shell landed on a house after a military convoy was hit by a landmine on the morning of 21 October near Khaung Laung village, Minbya Township, injuring two villagers, local sources said.

“Political problems will not end by arresting relatives of the leaders of the ULA/AA. It is necessary to stop persecution on Arakanese people. The government will face negative consequences that follow this kind of act,” Khaing Thukha said.

The Pakhoku student union group arrived in Ann on October 18 and was stopped by the authorities but was later allowed to continue traveling because of intervention by the State Hluttaw. On October 20 when the group arrived in Minbya, they were stopped for a second time.

A Muslim woman from Htake Tu Pauk village of Kyauk Yan village track in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State was hit by a stray bullet from gunfire and injured, her family said.

“Of the 85 accidents within 10 months this year, 15 have been caused by cooking fires and 30 by negligence, 4 by electrical faults , and 24 fires were set deliberately,” U San Shwe Tun, Deputy Director of Arakan State Fire Service Department said.

Refugees in Lanma monastery refugee camp of Buthidaung town a shortage of drinking water.The monastery is one of the places where water scarcity occurs and it needs wells or drilled wells to be built for the refugees. 

After the Tatmadaw stayed at a school for 9 days, property at the middle school in Pane-Taw-Kone-Dan, a village in Rathedaung Township has been destroyed, according to what Headmistress Daw Than Than Nu told DMG.

Four townships in Arakan State, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Ponnagyun, and Kyauktaw, have been blocked from the Internet for five months and it’s continued to cause problems.

A group of five student unions, which came from Pakhoku to provide food supplies at IDP camps in Arakan State, was stopped by the authorities in Ann but later was allowed to keep traveling to Minbya on October 19 because of intervention by the State Hluttaw, the student union group said.