The Chin State government has said it will sell rice at low prices to residents in Paletwa Township, according to a cabinet official.

Sittwe General Hospital in the Arakan State capital is facing a shortage of oxygen for patients as it has been increasingly called upon as a coronavirus treatment.

The chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Taungup Township wants an answer from the Arakan Army (AA) as to whether the ethnic armed group’s members were behind the recent abduction of three of the party’s candidates.

The UN-led Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting on grave violations against children (CTFMR) has called for a prompt investigation into the deaths of two children amid hostilities between the military and Arakan Army (AA) on October 5 in Buthidaung Township. 

An internally displaced person sheltering at an IDP camp in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township has been arrested by police for allegedly violating local curfew orders, according to family members of the detainee. 

Three residents of Sanae village in Ann Township, Arakan State, who were recently arrested by the Tatmadaw were transferred to the Ann Myoma police station after five days in military custody, according to family members of the detainees.

One of four people injured in the recent shelling of a village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township died on Thursday evening while receiving treatment at Sittwe General Hospital. 

The 10 ethnic armed group signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) have urged the warring parties in Arakan State to solve their problems through political means to reduce armed conflict in Myanmar’s west. 

More than 500 civil society groups across Myanmar have urged President U Win Myint to reconsider going forward as planned with elections scheduled for November 8 as the country continues to grapple with the twin crises of resurgent COVID-19 and ongoing conflict in Arakan State. 

Five out of 40 election signboards erected for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township have been destroyed, according to local party members. 

Chin State civil society organisations have expressed concerns about uncertainty hanging over whether elections will be held in Paletwa Township, where conflict centred on neighbouring Arakan State has spilled over and continues to affect lives and livelihoods. 

Four residents of Pyar Pin Yin village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township were wounded when artillery shells struck their village on Wednesday, with one of the victims admitted to Sittwe General Hospital with serious injuries.  

Two men from Sanae village in Ann Township were recently released by the Tatmadaw but are in need of medical treatment after allegedly being beaten in military custody, according to locals. 

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, has risen by more than 3,000 in just over a week, according to a local lawmaker, IDP camp officials and area residents, as fierce clashes between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army (AA) continued this week.   

Monthly vaccinations for pregnant women, infants and children under 2 years of age have been suspended due to a surge in coronavirus infections in Arakan State, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health.

The Myanmar military detained four men from Myoma Ward in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on the evening of October 13, according to local residents. 

Officials from the National League for Democracy (NLD) say three of the party’s candidates were abducted by unidentified, armed captors in Taungup Township, Arakan State, on October 14. 

The Chin State government has begun sending 1,700 sacks of rice and other food rations to Paletwa Township, according to sources, in an effort to meet shortages there due to travel restrictions and other supply chain challenges. 

Due to travel restrictions prompted by rising COVID-19 infections in Arakan State, relief aid and food supplies are in short supply at some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), say responsible personnel from the camps.