Junta artillery attacks and airstrikes killed more than 20 civilians and injured at least 50 across Myanmar during the period from May 15-21, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma said in a report.

A local man from Kulabar Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, who was seriously injured in a landmine blast, died at the hospital on Thursday evening.

Half of Thandwe’s residents have fled the town as fighting escalates in the township of the same name between the regime and the Arakkha Army (AA).

Some Muslim activists have accused the AA of killing Muslims and torching their houses.

The Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) has been abducting young men from Muslim refugee camps in Bangladesh, selling them to the regime to use them as soldiers.

Ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and various armed groups continues to drive displacement and raise protection concerns across vast swaths of the country, the UNOCHA Myanmar Office added.

The AA took control of the BGF battalion near the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road on the evening of May 22, according to a reliable source.

The junta has blockaded the Ann-Sittwe, Ann-Tettaung, Ann-Maei, and Ann-Minbu road sections in Ann Township, but the Ann-Minbu road has been reopened since May 16, said a local resident.

People in Arakan State who depend on the forests for their livelihoods say they are having trouble making a living due to the current lack of employment opportunities and rising commodity prices.

The regime carried out checks on monasteries and wards on the nights of May 17 and 18, purportedly to search for unregistered overnight guests. 

“During 121 days spanning from January 2024 to April 2024, the military council carried out a total of 819 incidents of airstrikes, averaging at least six incidents per day,” reads the report.

In previous years, 100 sheets of nipa palm thatch sold for just 8,000 kyats, but they are selling for 20,000 kyats now, according to nipa palm thatching business owners.

The statement by 194 groups said that the regime has continuously oppressed Muslims, tortured them and committed genocide, and is currently using them as soldiers and human shields by forcing them to join the military.

A junta air assault on Khaunglaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Minbya Township, injured nine civilians including an elderly Buddhist monk on Wednesday morning

Five civilians were killed and 10 others were injured in a junta airstrike on Taronai Village, part of Chin State’s Paletwa Township held by the Arakkha Army (AA), on Tuesday.

Two mortar shells fired by the military’s Shwe Min Gan naval base in Sittwe fell and exploded in the Zedipyin IDP camp at around 7 a.m. on May 21.

“The fighting is fierce as the AA is attacking those positions. Junta jets are bombing every day. Over 100 troops from those two outposts have fled,” said a source.

Myanmar’s military regime has blockaded the main coastal route used by Thandwe Township residents to flee ongoing fighting and receive healthcare services in Thandwe Town as of Monday.

At least 6,000 homes in Buthidaung were destroyed by junta soldiers and military-trained Muslim conscripts, regime airstrikes and shellings during the battle for control of Buthidaung.