“They were wrongfully arrested. We don’t have any ties to the Arakan Army. We are ordinary people and we have never seen the Arakan Army. I feel happy and sad at the same time for those who were released from prison,”

All of Myanmar’s ethnic people should nourish the union spirit to strengthen unity and cooperation among each other, the speaker of the Arakan State parliament, U San Kyaw Hla, said during a session of the regional parliament in Sittwe on January 2.

Three ethnic armed groups from the Northern Alliance have extended by two months a unilateral ceasefire with the government that the trio had initially declared in September 2019, in an effort to jumpstart peace talks and create a peaceful environment for elections slated to take place later this year.

A proposal urging the state government to arrange more effective protection for civilians as armed clashes have wracked Arakan State in recent months was approved by the state legislature on December 31.

“The day we reach our goal is the day we get our sovereignty,” Saw Mya Yazar Lin, a Central Executive Committee member of the ALP, told DMG.

The Agricultural Science Institute in Kyauktaw town has temporarily closed after bullets riddled the school compound earlier this week, Daw Khin Lei Lwin, the institute’s principal, told DMG.

The Arakan Army (AA) has stated that 16 car drivers who were detained by the ethnic armed group in Rathedaung Township were released at around 7 a.m. on January 1.

The Arakan Army (AA) stopped an express ferry near Sapho Island in Rathedaung Township at around 2 p.m. on December 31 and abducted 16 passengers on board, said U Aung Linn, an official from the Arakan branch of Inland Water Transport.

“The AA shot at security forces with small arms around 7:30 p.m. last night. We didn’t respond to them. If we had returned fire, the whole of Kyauktaw town would be ash,” he said. “We, the Tatmadaw, are doing everything with a big heart. That’s why we didn’t shoot back.”

Dar Latt village tract is situated along the shared border of Ann and Myebon townships, about 30 miles from the town of Ann. Clashes between the Tatmadaw and the AA were first reported near Dar Latt village on December 25.

Riding bicycles and wearing blue tops, a group of 20 young people sought to peddle their way to peace on the evening of December 29, launching a “search for justice in Arakan State” campaign in the state capital Sittwe.

“We heard that the Myanmar army called the ambulance for the injured people and sent them to Ann Hospital. And we also found that they gave money to villagers to get them to say that we [AA] were responsible for the attack,”

Three road workers went missing near Mu Yin village in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, at around 6 p.m. on December 26, with a relative of one of the missing men saying there is no word yet on their whereabouts.

About 2,000 people have left their homes in Ann Township, Arakan State, due to recent fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA), according to volunteers who are helping the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Four local residents including one woman were wounded in an apparent gunfight near Maha Kangyishin Pagoda in Kyauktaw town, Arakan State, at about 9:30 a.m. on December 28, according to family members of the victims.

The Tatmadaw disposed of expired ammunition at a location west of Light Infantry Battalion No. 543’s headquarters in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, on December 26, according to a source from the township General Administration Department.

Youth interest in politics in Arakan State is on the rise and young people have high expectations for shaking up the political system, according to Ko Saw Kalayar Tun, a delegate from the Arakan Youth Affairs Committee (AYAC).

The Arakan Army (AA) and the Tatmadaw are at odds over the death of a local National League for Democracy leader in Arakan State who died while in the custody of the ethnic armed group, which is claiming that he was killed by a Tatmadaw artillery shell.

Civil society organizations and parliamentarians were among a group of protesters at Yangon’s Maha Bandula Park last week who called on the government to immediately end its internet blackout in parts of Arakan State.