Among the inmates are 31 Muslim political prisoners and the remainder were jailed under various charges including theft, drug smuggling, human trafficking and rape.

“We found bodies drifting in the creek. There were also bodies by the roadside. It appears that they had no time to bury them due to the fierce fighting,” said a Thandwe resident.

Family members say they have not been in contact with three civilians from Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township since their arrest by the Myanmar military three days ago.

More and more people are offloading their gold due to livelihood difficulties, the gold shop owners said.

Junta soldiers in seven military trucks arrived in Sat Yoe Kya Ward, conducted security checks and detained dozens of residents.

Myanmar’s military regime is preparing its defence in Taungup, Thandwe, Gwa and Manaung townships in southern Arakan State against attacks from the Arakkha Army (AA).

Ten Japan-based ethnic organisations representing Arakanese, Shan, Kachin and Karen people issued a statement on Tuesday condemning a joint statement issued by 195 organisations on the situation in northern Arakan State. 

Twenty-five political parties including the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) have called for an immediate lifting of sanctions on Myanmar. 

At least 5,976 houses, hospitals, clinics, religious buildings, schools, roads and bridges have been damaged or destroyed in junta attacks in Arakan and neighbouring Chin states in the six months from November 13 to May 13, 

The regime trained 1,000 Muslims from Sittwe Township in February and March and sent them to the front line to fight the Arakkha Army (AA). Some have died in clashes.

The Arakkha Army (AA) and concerned Muslim communities are trying to prevent the problem from escalating, according to the NUG statement.

Among the victims are 182 Arakanese, 78 Muslims, three Mro, two Khami, one Maramargyi and two Burmese, the Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office said.

Myanmar’s military regime has arrested 425 civilians in the six months from November 13 to May 13, the United League of Arakan/Arakkha Army (ULA/AA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Though the fighting has ceased in northern Shan State due to a China-brokered ceasefire, the civil war is intensifying elsewhere, particularly in Kachin and Arakan states, and Sagaing Region.

The paddy harvesting season has arrived, but farmers in Arakan State are reluctant to start farming amid the fighting.

In recent days, the regime has asked K10 million for a boat from and K2 million from each Muslim to send them to Sittwe.

The General Strike Committee (GSC) has withdrawn from a joint statement issued recently by 195 revolutionary groups, civil society organisations and anonymous organisations about the situation in northern Arakan State.

The regime has been increasingly and deliberately targeting civilian populations as it is losing ground in the civil war that followed its February 2021 coup.

The military regime is blocking residents from leaving Thandwe Township, Arakan State, where fighting between its troops and the Arakkha Army (AA) is escalating.