Fearing an outbreak of fighting in Kyauktaw, Arakan State, many local residents are moving to safety, but internally displaced people (IDPs) are having difficulty doing so.

The Arakan Army (AA) has made seizing junta bases and military camps in urban parts of Arakan State a focus of its offensive operations in recent weeks, following the launch of “Operation 1027” in late October.

Three villagers have been killed and eight others were injured by junta artillery strikes in Warchilar (Muslim) Village, part of Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, since late November.

Cash is running short in many Arakan State townships as Myanmar’s military regime has imposed draconian travel restrictions since renewed fighting broke out in mid-November.

More than 80 junta soldiers fled into India’s Mizoram state during an Arakan Army (AA) attack on the regime’s Point 377 outpost in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Friday.

The Arakan Army (AA) seized a junta tactical command base in Paletwa Township, Chin State, and at Point 377, a military camp on the Myanmar-India border, the ethnic armed group said in a statement on December 29.

A family member said that he hanged himself due to insecurity and food shortages triggered by the latest hostilities between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State.

Myanmar’s military regime is accused of utilising an India-funded port, which is part of the US$500 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, in the Arakan State capital Sittwe for its own benefit rather than the benefit of local people.

Dozens of local people detained by Myanmar’s military regime in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, on December 26 and 28 have reportedly been fined and released.

The regime and the Arakan Army (AA) are currently engaged in fierce fighting in Arakan State, with clashes also taking place in Kyaukphyu, where the deep-sea port project will be implemented.

A 12-year-old Muslim girl from Paung Toke Village in Mrauk-U Township on Friday succumbed to injuries she sustained when an artillery shell fired by the regime struck her village on Thursday, according to family members.

Five Muslims were killed and four others were injured after artillery shells fired by the military landed and exploded in Ceditaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, on December 28.

About 100 patients from Manaung Township and relatives taking care of them are stranded in Taungup, where they are receiving medical treatment, as junta travel restrictions make it impossible for them to return to Manaung.

Junta soldiers arrested Ko Aung Hsan Oo and Ko Myo Myint Oo at their homes on December 11, interrogated the two men at the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 103, and transferred the duo to Myeik Prison on December 14.

“The military responded to the AA’s offensive with artillery attacks and aerial support during the hostilities. A mortar shell fell in the village, killing a local on the spot,” said a local man in Kaitaw Village.

A regime threat has prompted ferryboat helmsmen and cargo workers at the BXT port in the Arakan State capital Sittwe to stop working. 

About 1,000 residents from four wards in Kyauktaw town fled their homes on Wednesday alone, frightened by the junta’s shelling of neighbouring Mrauk-U.

About 70 junta soldiers and policemen have reportedly been stationed at Myaungbwe police station, near the Sittwe-Yangon road.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance also urged fellow revolutionary groups to grasp the current opportunity and work harder in the coming new year to topple the regime.