Arakan Army spokesperson Khaing Thukha told DMG that his group is arranging to soon release two Tatmadaw soldiers in its custody as a show of the ethnic armed organization’s compassion.

Myanmar and China signed agreements on the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and deep-sea port project during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar despite the objections of some civil society organizations in Arakan State.

Locals have urged KBZ Bank to reopen its branch in the town of Mrauk-U, Arakan State, as its closure 10 months ago has forced them to seek out financial services in other townships.

The Arakan Army (AA) released a statement ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar on January 17-18, saying the ethnic armed group heartily welcomed his historic trip.

“We are afraid of coming to Myanmar. It is not OK to live in Bangladesh either. That’s why we were going to Malaysia to work. But we were detained and sent back to Maungdaw. We have no luck,” one Muslim who has been accepted back to Maungdaw told DMG.

A fishing boat was hit by a ship in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, killing four people aboard the smaller vessel and leaving one person missing, according to the Kyaukphyu Myoma police station.

More than 300 villagers from Dar Lat Chaung and Ka Zu Kaing villages have sought refuge in the town of Ann due to clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, but no temporary camp for them has yet been established.

Thirty-three people who had been pinned down by fighting at a village in Arakan State’s northern Rathedaung Township for five days were rescued on January 15, locals said.

Residents of Tharyar Kone village in southern Maungdaw Township say they remain powerless, in a literal sense, after paying to have the village hooked up to the grid only to remain without electricity months later.

The number of wartime refugees taking shelter in Sittwe has risen due to recent fighting in the state, according to Bhadanta U Rarzeinda, abbot of the Metta Parami Monastery in the Arakan State capital.

Hundreds of wartime refugees at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near War Taung village in Minbya Township, Arakan State, say they are lacking adequate provision of basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter.

Maungdaw District administrator U Soe Aung says authorities will check whether 155 Muslims who were detained in waters off southeastern Myanmar and brought to Maungdaw had previously lived in Arakan State.

U Wai Hla Aung, the camp manager, told DMG on January 12 that a lake near the camp dried up last month and IDPs are now using unclean water from a nearby ditch dug for a railway.

Chinese Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang met with leaders of the Arakan Army (AA) and urged the ethnic armed group to reduce clashes and refrain from attacks on the Tatmadaw, AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha has told DMG.

About 40 villages in Ann Township, Arakan State, are facing difficulties because their residents are unable to use water transport due to clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA), locals say.

A total of 172 Muslims detained in waters off Kawthaung town in Tanintharyi Region were brought back to Arakan State by helicopter on the afternoon of January 13.

While the three men – road contractor U Soe Nyein, backhoe owner U Maung Poe Khin and backhoe driver Ko Maung Yan Naing from Kyauk Kalay village – were repairing a road, they were detained at the base of Baw Lan Mountain, between Mu Yin and Zin Chaung villages, on the evening of December 26.

The explosion occurred at the compound of a house in Yote Thar village, Kyauktaw Township, while a resident was burning waste discarded by a Tatmadaw unit temporarily stationed there since last month, said U Maung Htwee Aung, father of the injured children.

The recent abduction of a 7-year-old girl in Sittwe has some parents in the Arakan State capital reevaluating their childcare routines amid fears that other children may likewise be targeted.