The Arakan Army (AA) ambushed junta troops near Ngwetaungpauk Bridge in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, on Wednesday afternoon, according to local residents.

The border trade between Myanmar and Thailand has temporarily ceased due to ongoing fighting between the military and anti-regime forces in Kawkareik, Kayin (Karen) State.

The junta’s Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 371, 372 and 372, stationed on Mt. Tawhein in Kazukaing village-tract, fired mortar shells into the villages from 9 a.m. to noon, according to locals.

Nineteen homes caught fire and a local woman was injured in Manawthiri Village, part of Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township, on Tuesday after artillery shells fired by a junta warship landed and exploded in the village.

“We need new Arakha warriors — Defenders of Our Fatherland — who have genuine love for Arakha State and are dedicated to defending it,” reads the AA statement.

The regime arrested 70 locals from Ohntaw and Gonechein villages, and Taungyin and Cediya wards, at different locations including near a government technical institute on Monday.

Myanmar’s military regime has invited soldiers who have deserted or gone absent without leave to return to the barracks, promising that they will not be punished for any minor crime they might have committed.

A coalition headed by the KNLA launched attacks on the military’s Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 599 and 590, the Myoma police station in Mone town, and a security checkpoint near a bridge on December 2, and seized the town two days later.

Shells fired by a Myanmar Navy vessel sailing from Sittwe fell in Manawthiri Village at 10 a.m. on December 5, setting structures alight in the village an hour later, said a villager.

Mortar shells fired by a Border Guard Force (BGF) battalion fell in Shweyinaye Village on Monday evening, injuring Daw Khin Ye, 62, Ko Maung Hla Aye, 25, and Ma Hla Sein Win, a 22-year-old pregnant woman.

Myanmar’s military regime, which stands credibly accused of violating human rights and committing war crimes in Arakan State, is now making threats to people’s right to information.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing suggested at a cabinet meeting of his regime on Monday that ongoing armed conflicts across the country should be resolved with political solutions.

“AA members reportedly abducted three officers from the GAD and confiscated office documents,” a source who did not want to be named told DMG on condition of anonymity.

About 70 junta troops fired at least 50 gunshots in several wards starting from 12 noon, said residents.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun has sought to sow discord between local people in Arakan State and the Arakan Army (AA), blaming the ethnic Arakanese armed group for hardships local people are suffering.

Daw Nyo Aye, chairwoman of the Rakhine Women’s Network (RWN), who was arrested by police and charged under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, was arraigned at the Sittwe Township Court on December 4.

“First, junta soldiers torched about 130 homes in Yeyoepyin Village. Four hours later, they reduced more than 30 homes to ashes in Khamaungdaw Village,” said a local man from Yeyoepyin Village.

The AA has been attacking junta hilltop tactical command bases in Taron Eain and Nonebu in Paletwa Township since November 14, and the regime has used chemical bombs to repulse its onslaught, according to the AA.

A local man was killed and three others were injured after junta artillery shells landed and exploded in Chilaepin Village, part of Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, on December 4.