An Arakan Army (AA) military tribunal on Thursday sentenced two of its soldiers to 20 years in prison with hard labour plus flogging for raping a Muslim woman from Buthidaung Township, according to AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha.

Myanmar’s military regime has ordered passenger boat services in Pauktaw Township that operate routes between Pauktaw and the Arakan State capital Sittwe to suspend operations as of Thursday, according to boat owners.

Two detainees and two others who have thus far evaded arrest in Arakan State’s Maungdaw were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act at the Maungdaw Myoma police station on October 16, according to the accused. 

Hundreds of vehicles were trapped along the Asia Highway linking Kawkareik and the border town of Myawaddy in Kayin (Karen) State on October 19 as fighting that first flared on Tuesday night continued the following day. 

Of 16 people recently detained by the military in Ramree Township, Arakan State, 15 have been released, but a local man remains under military detention, according to those released.

At least eight people were killed and 13 others injured in two explosions at notorious Insein Prison in Yangon on Wednesday morning, according to prison sources. Those killed included three prison staff and relatives of political prisoners.

Two residents were injured and some homes were damaged by artillery shell shrapnel in Peinhnechaung and Wethmine villages, on the east bank of the Kaladan River in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, on Wednesday afternoon. 

A 13-year-old girl was killed by a shelling in Pyainetaw Village, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have called on Myanmar’s military regime to lift travel bans on local and international nongovernmental organisations.

Schools were closed in Arakan State’s Minbya Township after some locals including a primary school teacher were killed by junta artillery strikes in the township on Monday, according to residents.

A local man from Daingnetpyin (Muslim) Village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township was fatally wounded when an artillery shell fell and exploded in the village at about noon on October 18, with the victim reportedly dying at Buthidaung Hospital while receiving medical treatment that evening.

A Muslim woman was reportedly killed by a shelling in Paikthel Village, part of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, at about 8 p.m. on October 17.

More than 30 internally displaced people (IDPs) from four villages in the north of Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, have suffered from snakebites since June, according to healthcare workers helping the IDPs.

The Myanmar military has arrested at least 12 residents in Arakan State’s Ramree Township following the Arakan Army’s detention of an ex-military officer on October 15, according to locals.

Three people died and six others were injured by junta artillery strikes in Arakan State’s Minbya Township on Monday, according to local residents. Among the victims were children and a schoolteacher.

Myanmar’s military regime has virtually isolated a village-tract made up of 48 villages in Arakan State’s Ann Township, according to locals.

A Chinese-backed gas-fired power plant in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, began operations on October 11, and is currently undergoing a trial run.

A security checkpoint at Kaleinaung Bridge in Dawei District, Tanintharyi Region, was attacked early Friday by unknown gunmen, according to locals.

Two members of the Garuna Network, a local charity in Arakan State’s Maungdaw, were arrested by the Myanmar military late Friday night, with one of them reportedly released the next day.