Myanmar’s military regime has been forcibly recruiting Muslims trapped in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Town, prompting many to flee to Bangladesh as of the last week of July.

Junta troops arrived in three vehicles and checked households in five wards including Kathe, Danyawaddy and Mingan, making dozens of arrests.

A junta jet fighter dropped bombs on TNLA positions near the scenes of fighting multiple times on August 4, the TNLA statement said.

“They are ordinary people and were arrested at a security checkpoint while going to Khayine Village,” said a source close to the arrestees.

Three Muslims from Mrauk-U Township have drowned after heavy rains and high tides inundated hundreds of villages in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Minbya townships.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun said the regime lost contact with commanders of its Northeastern Command after 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Homes, shops, wells, ponds, farmlands, and rice barns were inundated by the floodwaters, with the extent of the damage yet to be fully known.

The NUG Sexual Protection Policy Central Committee’s statement said that a review of documents and testimony from witnesses found that Salai Isaac Khen had indeed committed sexual harassment.

The two AA soldiers were reportedly arrested two days after the capture of Matupi town while going unarmed on duty to a village when they took the wrong road and went to a village where CNF troops were stationed.

The regime provided some relief materials to cyclone victims during the worst of the storm's aftermath, but these operations were halted after fighting broke out anew in Arakan State on November 13, 2023.

Monkeys there depend on food provided by pilgrims. But the ongoing hostilities, food shortages and hyperinflation mean few people are visiting the pagoda and fewer can afford to feed them. 

The AA has been launching attacks on Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion No. 5 in Maungdaw’s Myothugyi Ward and a junta camp near Shwezar Village since July 19.

A resident of Kyeintali Town, part of Arakan State’s Gwa Township, was severely injured in a landmine blast on Friday, according to local residents.

Gold shops in Arakan State have suspended buying gold as many residents are selling their gold jewellery amid worsening economic hardships in the war-torn state.

The Shwe Mingan naval base launched shells at least seven times on Friday morning, said residents. “They fired multiple rockets. I heard the strikes were targeted at Ponnagyun and Pauktaw,” said a resident.

Thandwe residents were quick to dispute the denial, however, and specifically said that six civilians had been killed by artillery shells fired from a Myanmar military naval base in the area.

Heavy rains and high tides have flooded some 10 villages in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, with flood victims in need of food and shelter, according to residents.

The junta has been using civilian boats to bring in reinforcements, food supplies, weapons and ammunition by sea, the AA said as it warned civilians not to travel in the waters offshore of the two townships.

“Now pregnant mothers are having a hard time. Pregnant mothers are giving birth with the help of traditional birth attendants, which can be life-threatening,” said a pregnant woman.