Despite rising military tensions in Arakan State, Myanmar’s military regime may not risk a return to full-scale war in Arakan State, according to political observers. 

Seven out of 15 residents of Kyaukphyu Township’s Sanae town who were arrested after men in plainclothes abducted a police officer at a local market on July 24 were released on Monday, while the eight others were reportedly sent to Kyaukphyu town. 

It has been a week since Myanmar’s military regime deployed troops at a Buddhist monastery in Rathedaung Township, according to locals and internally displaced people (IDPs). 

The Arakan Army (AA) has joined a growing chorus of condemnation for the junta’s recent execution of four men including prominent 88 Generation student leader Ko Jimmy and former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) at a camp in a Ponnagyun Township industrial zone say there has been a shortage of rice at the camp for almost two months. 

Three men in plainclothes abducted a police officer at a local bazaar in Sanae town, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, at about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to eyewitnesses.

A clash broke out between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army near Abaung Thar village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Sunday, according to locals.

Former residents of a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kanhtaungyi town, Myebon Township, who have recently returned to their home villages say they have not yet received the financial and material assistance that the regime had promised them for resettlement.

The prices of medicines are rising in some cities including the commercial capital Yangon due to the kyat’s depreciation against the US dollar and other foreign currencies, and shortages of some commonly used medicines are being reported in the market, according to pharmacies.

The diamond bud of Lawka Manaung Pagoda in Mrauk-U Township, which reportedly went missing after the pagoda was struck by lightning on Friday, was retrieved on Saturday morning, according to the pagoda’s board of trustees.

Many residents of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township have been without electricity since Friday night after erosion brought down a power pole near Ohntaw village, according to locals.

The Arakan Army (AA) released the township administrator and his driver from its custody at a location between Yoengu and Kyaukseik villages in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township on Saturday, the ethnic armed group said in a statement. 

The Arakan State Fisheries Department has ordered 10 mud crab and lobster exporters to halt their shipments after white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) was found in their exports. 

A clash broke out between the Myanmar military and an armed group on the Taungpyo road between Tarein and Myawady villages in the northern part of Maungdaw Township.

Many students in Arakan State who must travel by boat in order to attend school are still in need of life jackets, nearly two months after the issue was raised and promises for government provision of the safety gear were made.

The Arakan Army (AA) this week urged local people to exercise caution while travelling in the state, citing the military regime’s recent arrests of dozens civilians on a variety of specious grounds.

Five people were killed and one other was injured after the boundary wall of a high school collapsed in the Mon State capital Mawlamyine on Friday morning, according to locals.

The Myanmar military has restricted access to a key road in Maungdaw Township following fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Arakan State on Monday, as local administrators expressed concerns about the junta’s recent arrests of some of their peers. 

Myanmar earned US$2.9 million in June from exports to Bangladesh through two border trade camps in Arakan State, according to the state’s chamber of commerce and industry.