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.

Three locals including a teacher from Hsee Pha Laung village in Paletwa Township, Chin State, were found dead on January 10, three days after they were abducted by an unknown armed group, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named for security reasons.

A 10-month-old boy was reportedly hit and killed by a stray bullet in a village of Minbya Township, Arakan State, over the weekend. Family members of the victim are accusing the Tatmadaw of having fired the shot, but the military has denied those accusations.

A 7-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two men in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, on January 10, according to a source from the local police station.

A petition pushing back against the formation of a tribunal to investigate 16 drivers who were recently abducted and subsequently released by the Arakan Army (AA) will be submitted to State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

A woman from Kha Moung Taw village in Arakan State’s Ann Township has been hospitalized after allegedly being tortured by Tatmadaw soldiers, the victim’s husband told DMG. The military, however, has refuted the accusation.

“An artillery shell fired by a Tatmadaw unit on the other side of the river fell near a tamarind tree in front of my house at about 3 p.m. … My daughter sustained calf muscle strain injuries and she is now receiving medical treatment at Mrauk-U Hospital,”

Phoenix Restaurant, on Athawka Road in Yangon’s Tamway Township, had been closed for a week prior to January 9, when anti-money laundering authorities, police officers and officials from the Bureau of Special Investigation descended on the eatery to seal off the premises.

Farmers who grow winter vegetables in Maungdaw Township, northern Arakan State, say they are losing money because they don’t have any government support and labor costs have increased.

Hostilities in 2015 between the Tatmadaw and the AA began in Paletwa Township, Chin State, and then also spilled over into Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, which initially saw an intensified conflict that has since subsided.