WFP announced on April 8 that it distributed emergency food to nearly 20,000 internally  displaced people (IDPs) in northern Arakan State between March 19 and April 8.

Junta soldiers arrived at Thitpone Village in Manaung Township on Sunday and forced them to sign documents stating that they would not engage with the AA.

Fierce clashes were reported near the Tawhein tactical command base near Kazukaing Village, Dar Let and the Western Command headquarters in Ann Township on April 7, locals said.

According to a DMG tally, over 40 homes in Ann Township, four homes and a school building in Myebon, and 10 each in Buthidaung and Minbya townships were destroyed by the junta airstrikes.

Rural healthcare centres and groceries in the Tawphyarchaung area have run out of medicine due to travel restrictions and transportation barriers during the latest fighting, locals said.

Wave Pay and KBZ Pay agents, who are connected with banks, have no more banking system and are struggling to provide cash-in and cash-out services.

Fierce clashes were reported in Maungdaw as the Arakan Army (AA) has ramped up offensive attacks on junta bases, military camps and border guard force outposts in the area.

On Saturday, U Hla Kyaw Khaing brought the unexploded ordnance home from a site where junta soldiers had camped, and it exploded when he hit it with a hammer, residents said.

Rampant mugging and robbery have been reported in Kyaukphyu town, which has been isolated by the military regime.

The military regime arrested 471 civilians between November 13, 2023, and March 21 during the latest fighting in Arakan State, the Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO) said in a report.

Junta soldiers abducted an internally displaced person (IDP) from Simaw Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, on Saturday morning, according to local residents.

With temperatures rising due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, the residents of Arakan State have become more prone to illnesses such as fever, cough and diarrhoea.

The Maungdaw District administrator and some departmental staff have fled Maungdaw amid fighting between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army (AA), sources told DMG.

The Arakan Army (AA) seized the military’s Buthidaung-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 564 on the morning of April 5, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.

Nine civilians were killed and 22 others were injured by junta air and artillery attacks in Arakan State over the four days from April 1-4, according to a DMG tally.

Civilians have been forced to flee their homes not only because of the fighting but also due to the junta’s indiscriminate air and artillery strikes on residential areas.

The Arakan Army (AA) is continuing to attack junta positions in Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, the ethnic armed group said in a statement on Wednesday.

A junta air attack on Kyauktaw town in Arakan State has killed two civilians and injured five others, according to local residents.

Thousands of local people from at least two dozen villages in Ann Township, Arakan State, have been fleeing to safer locations due to rising tensions between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in the area.