Hundreds of Myanmar military soldiers have defected to the Arakan Army (AA) since last year’s coup, said U Khaing Thukha, a spokesman for the ethnic armed group, at a press conference on Tuesday. 

The Myanmar regime’s second in command, Vice Senior General Soe Win, has called on his troops in Arakan State to be ready to fight, as the Arakan Army’s spokesman on Tuesday accused the junta of preparing to wage a full-scale war.

An internally displaced person (IDP) was killed and another injured in a landmine explosion near Sanyin village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township on Tuesday morning. 

The Arakan Army and National Unity Government are on friendly terms, the AA spokesman said at a press conference on Tuesday, during which he also criticised the NUG’s adversary, Myanmar’s military regime, and junta efforts to disrupt the parallel administration that the AA is spearheading in Arakan State. 

Kyaukphyu Airport in Arakan State is set to undergo renovations during the current fiscal year, with runway and parking lot upgrades expected. 

Coalition troops headed by the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) reportedly occupied a police outpost on the Myanmar-Thai border in Kayin State early Monday morning. 

More than 2,100 people have been displaced by heavy artillery fire from the Myanmar military in Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Region, over recent days, with scores of junta troops entering villages in the area, according to locals. 

A farmer in Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township was struck dead by lightning on Monday morning, according to locals. 

The Sittwe Township municipality has instructed residents to dump their garbage only between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. 

The Department of Archaeology and National Museum in Mrauk-U has not yet been able to begin removing illegal settlements from the ancient city, ahead of the expected visit of experts evaluating the former Arakanese royal capital’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status. 

As the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) becomes the latest ethnic armed group to meet with Myanmar’s military regime for rebooted peace talks this week, observers continue to view the junta-led process dubiously.

The industry has been in decline for a decade, with the number of salt farmers plummeting from more than 1,000 across 12 Arakan State townships to just 50 or so today, according to the Arakan State Salt Department.

Grade 11 students at a high school in Arakan State’s Minbya Township are reportedly struggling to learn due to the lack of a school building to accommodate them.

Arakanese political analysts say the military junta’s ostensible efforts to repatriate Muslims from Bangladesh are unlikely to succeed as long as political instability prevails in Myanmar.

Local residents in Sittwe have complained about the condition of thoroughfares and other heavily trafficked streets in the Arakan State capital that are riddled with large, deep potholes now filled with water since the onset of the monsoon season.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the current chair of ASEAN, has called on the Myanmar junta to rethink its plans to execute political dissidents including 88 Generation student leader Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw.

Arakan Army (AA) spokesman Khaing Thukha has called the military regime’s arrest of local administrators in Chin State’s Paletwa Township a human rights violation amid rising military tensions between the two sides.

One man was killed and three other people, including children, were wounded when artillery shells fired by junta troops fell on Hsaungdula village in Kayah State’s Demoso Township on Friday night, according to locals.

More than a week after schools opened on June 2, a group of ethnic Kaman high school students in the Arakan State capital Sittwe remain unable to enrol.