Fighting has flared up between the regime and the Arakkha Army (AA) on the road through the Arakan Mountains linking Gwa Township in Arakan State with Ngathaingchaung in Ayeyarwady Region.

The AA has laid siege to Sittwe since seizing Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Pauktaw townships bordering Sittwe. Some AA troops have penetrated Sittwe, resulting in frequent skirmishes with the regime.

Following heavy military defeats over the past year that have seen Myanmar’s military regime losing large swaths of territory in northern Shan State and Arakan State, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday.

The AA reported that he was attempting to flee into Bangladesh but could not due to a blockade by AA troops. The colonel died of blood loss after he stepped on a landmine planted by local border guard police, according to the AA.

The regime is continuously counter-attacking with airstrikes, while video footage released by the AA showed many junta soldiers surrendering due to the ethnic armed group’s assault.

Two teenage boys from Udaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, were injured in a junta artillery attack on Wednesday evening.

The WFP said it was aware of media reports indicating that WFP-marked food bags were allegedly found in a building previously used by border guard forces in northern Arakan State.

Myanmar’s military regime has told around 1,000 displaced people from Arakan State taking refuge in Chaungtha and neighbouring Shwe Thaung Yan towns in Ayeyarwady Region’s Pathein District to relocate within one week.

The CSOs released a joint statement on Monday, urging ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centred solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

Regime troops are accused of breaking into and ransacking unoccupied homes in Sittwe wards such as Kontan, Ywagyi Mrauk, Shwe Pyar, Lanmataw and Shwepyitha.

At checkpoints, junta soldiers impose tight checks on civilians holding citizenship registration cards indicating that they are from Arakan State. They are also subjected to verbal abuse, said those displaced.

One civilian was killed and four others were injured after the regime shelled Padetha Village, part of Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, at around 11 p.m. on December 17.

The AA said it has implemented water fetching times and restrictions on pumping at public water bodies in Mrauk-U, Minbya, Rathedaung, and Ponnagyun townships.

The Thai government said applications can be submitted for 30 days beginning December 16, and that it would issue documents in March of next year.

The military regime’s airstrikes and artillery attacks have reportedly destroyed many homes in Gwa as the Arakkha Army (AA) launches an offensive to capture the town in Arakan State.

Brig-Gen Kaung Myat, commander of the Myanmar regime's No. 5 Military Operations Command (MOC) in Taungup, Arakan State, and about 20 junta soldiers have reportedly fled the battlefield using political prisoners as human shields.

The AA delegation was led by AA deputy chief Dr. Nyo Twan Awng. Neither side has released details about the meeting, and DMG was unable to reach AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) taking shelter in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township are struggling to find a new place to stay after they were told by their landlords to vacate by the end of this month.

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has called for continuous training “to fully utilise the capabilities of warplanes, gunships and their weapon systems” as his regime continues its ruthless air campaign against civilian populations in Myanmar.