The junta boss said last month that he planned for the poll next year, and is preparing to conduct a census to compile voter lists.

The Mizoram-based Central Young Lai Association (CYLA) on June 24 blockaded the overland trade route used to import goods from Lawngtlai in Mizoram to Arakan State via Paletwa Township.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has accused Myanmar’s military regime of using an internationally banned chemical bomb during fighting between the two sides in northern Shan State.

“The military’s outposts in Ann Township are besieged and attacked by the AA. The regime’s regiments were ambushed by the AA,” said the source.

A Buddhist monk and two internally displaced people (IDPs) were injured in a junta airstrike on a monastery in Paukinn Village, part of Arakan State’s Taungup Township, on Thursday afternoon.

The regime announced on July 2 that waterway repair and dredging work would be carried out from July 15 to September 30 to allow large oil tankers to enter and exit the port on Made Island.

Charities are struggling due to several factors including instability, a decline in funding resulting from economic chaos, travel restrictions and high fuel prices, according to charity founders.

But women in Arakan State have criticised the junta chief’s remarks, saying they are contradicted by his regime’s actions.

Fighting erupted near Ngapali Town on June 2. Almost all residents of Ngapali fled to safer locations due to fierce fighting since June 23, after the AA seized nearby Thandwe Airport.

Commodities were transported to Ramree from Arakan State’s Thandwe Township by cargo boats in the past, but the trade halted due to ongoing fighting in Thandwe Township.

“We are like birds in a cage. The regime does not take responsibility for those it has forced to move. And it is arresting them,” lamented a displaced resident of Aung Dine Village.

A displaced woman in her 50s from Ponnagyun Township, who suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes, died after her medications ran out.

Myanmar’s military regime in Gwa Township has planted landmines in the forests, along roadsides, near military regiments and around Gwa Town.

Junta troops raided Mingan Ward on June 16, blindfolding and detaining around 200 residents. The regime has subsequently charged 40 of them.

A junta airstrike on Myonepyin Village, part of Arakan State’s Thandwe Township, reportedly injured four local women and a 14-year-old girl at around 1 p.m. on July 2.

“Officials from the township GAD warned locals about the risks of landmines on June 30. No one dares go to the forest,” said a local man in Kyeintalin Town.

A junta artillery attack on Kyaukme killed three civilians on July 1. A regime shelling on Sanpheit Ward in Hsipaw injured five locals the same day, the TNLA statement added.

Junta soldiers deployed on the campus of Taungup University in Arakan State’s Taungup Town broke into the apartment of the university rector and stole valuables, sources told DMG.

The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) on Monday rejected the registration of the Arakan National Party (ANP) for allegedly violating the Political Parties Registration Law.