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

Dozens of Arakanese and Hindu people trapped by the junta blockades in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, where military tensions are running high, were reportedly detained on Monday.

Around 60 Khami people from Ingyinmyaing Village in Buthidaung Township fled from Buthidaung to Kyauktaw Township in April following clashes between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA).

Though the joint statement did not accuse the AA of arbitrarily arresting and killing Muslims, it did call for a probe into allegations about the arresting and killing of Muslims by AA troops on the ground.

More than 10 military vehicles transported the weapons from the Kanyin Chaung to Border Guard Police Force Battalion No. 5 from May 21-23, sources told DMG.

Thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Tawphyarchaung, a remote area in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, are reportedly in urgent need of shelters, food and healthcare services.

School enrollment for the year 2024-2025 began May 23 in Arakan State’s Sittwe, Taungup, Ann, Manaung, Gwa, Kyaukphyu and Thandwe townships.

Some junta soldiers along with their weapons have managed to flee their camps in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Ann and Thandwe townships amid fierce fighting between the military and AA.

Around 80 percent of the 200,000 IDPs are Muslims, and the rest are Arakanese people and ethnic minorities.

Heavy rain is predicted in Arakan State for the next three days due to a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal, the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) reported.

U Khaing Thukha said no one was living in the district GAD office and only the buildings were damaged by the junta airstrike, with no casualties reported.

Around 1.6 million people have lost access to hospital care in central and northern Arakan State, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported on Friday.

Junta artillery attacks and airstrikes killed more than 20 civilians and injured at least 50 across Myanmar during the period from May 15-21, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma said in a report.

A local man from Kulabar Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, who was seriously injured in a landmine blast, died at the hospital on Thursday evening.

Half of Thandwe’s residents have fled the town as fighting escalates in the township of the same name between the regime and the Arakkha Army (AA).

Some Muslim activists have accused the AA of killing Muslims and torching their houses.

The Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) has been abducting young men from Muslim refugee camps in Bangladesh, selling them to the regime to use them as soldiers.

Ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and various armed groups continues to drive displacement and raise protection concerns across vast swaths of the country, the UNOCHA Myanmar Office added.

The AA took control of the BGF battalion near the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road on the evening of May 22, according to a reliable source.