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.

A proposal urging the state government to suspend collection on agricultural loans in areas where farmers have faced conflict-related difficulties was submitted to the Arakan State legislature on December 24.

Three officers from the Immigration and National Registration Department based in the Taung Bazar area of Buthidaung Township have disappeared while travelling by boat in northern Arakan State, Buthidaung Township administrator confirmed.

Amid concerns that women and children have not been adequately protected during the armed conflicts and natural disasters that have plagued Arakan State, a local women’s affairs working group was formed on December 22 to assist them.

Officials from a fish cracker factory near Kin Pinlei Nar village in Kyauk Phyu Township have vowed to make technical alterations so that nearby residents suffer fewer harmful effects from its operations.

Clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) at Taung Nhit Lone Kyaw Mountain in Myebon Township on December 23 have forced more than 1,200 residents from nearby Sa Nyin village to flee their homes.

Two residents of Phar Wat Chaung village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law and remanded into custody by a court in Buthidaung Township on December 23.

The Arakan Army ethnic armed group is attempting to clamp down on the sale and use of illicit narcotics in Arakan State, posting letters of warning in some of the state’s townships.