U Ba Shein, chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Party (RNP), has said that Myanmar is in chaos because there is no peace in the country, and that the junta-sponsored election therefore must be held.
 

Members of the regime proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are reportedly campaigning for the junta-sponsored election slated for December 28, targeting Arakanese people who have fled to mainland Myanmar due to military conflict in Arakan State and other reasons.
 

According to local residents, Myanmar’s military regime has been reinforcing its naval forces along the coastlines of Arakan Army-controlled townships such as Thandwe, Gwa, Ramree, Pauktaw, and Maungdaw in Arakan State over recent days.
 

Despite ongoing armed conflicts across Myanmar, the military regime held a series of ceremonies in Nay Pyi Taw from October 15 to 17 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

The battle for control of Arakan State, which began in November 2023 and is approaching its two-year mark, and the aftermath of the fighting has left the Arakan people suffering from severe poverty and hunger.
 

The living conditions of locals in Sittwe, Arakan State, which is still under the control of Myanmar’s military regime, are deteriorating due to skyrocketing prices and a desperate lack of job opportunities.
 

Heavy fighting has erupted between the Myanmar military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) in Sittwe Township, with both sides engaging in exchanges of artillery fire and drone attacks, according to local and military sources.

In what it has described as a bid to facilitate the electoral process and encourage people to vote, Myanmar’s military regime has installed its MPT mobile network in Arakan State’s Manaung Township, which remains under junta control.
 

Myanmar's junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has urged ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to make only "realistic" demands during political dialogues.

Muslim armed groups operating out of refugee camps are increasingly involved in the illegal smuggling of weapons into Bangladesh, according to a report by the Bangladesh-based Bangla Press news agency.

Myanmar’s military regime has carried out a series of airstrikes targeting schools across the country, with eight people killed, including children, and at least 22 injured in junta bombings from October 1 to 14.
 

The Arakan Army (AA) and its allied resistance forces have captured the strategic Nat Yay Kan Hill Base, a key air defense outpost of the Myanmar military located along the Ann-Padan highway on the Arakan mountain range in Ngape Township, Magway Region, according to local and military sources.

Junta troops, who are launching a fierce offensive against Hsipaw, are now within 3 miles of the town in northern Shan State that is controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
 

Frequent clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Muslim armed group ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border have taken on a new dimension, with AA sources and border residents alleging that some members of Bangladesh’s Border Guard (BGB) have been providing support to the Muslim insurgents.

In an era when daily news from Arakan is often fragmented and fast-changing, DMG’s Weekly Highlights of Arakan brings clarity, depth, and context to the stories that matter most.

Six ethnic armed organisations have issued a joint statement urging armed groups not to attend the 10th anniversary ceremony of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to be held in Naypyidaw on October 15, and led by Myanmar’s military regime.
 

A child was injured when the Myanmar military’s navy fired artillery shells from the sea near Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, according to local sources.

The township’s 50-bed public hospital has been struggling with critical shortages of essential medicines and medical equipment, while junta-imposed restrictions on the transport of medical supplies and road blockades have left emergency and chronic patients in grave danger, according to local sources.

The Myanmar military junta has intensified its airstrikes in recent days on towns controlled by the Chin Brotherhood (CB), according to local sources.