Hostilities have occurred in and around Maungdaw for months as the AA seeks to take control of the border town, and the ethnic armed group said in a statement on Friday that junta soldiers and armed Muslim militiamen have locked up villagers in Muslim villages to use as human shields.

DMG has learnt that at least four policemen have deserted from their positions in Made Island since the latest fighting, and some have surrendered to the AA.

“Now that there is some level of security assurance, all political prisoners have been returned to their homes and families since August 6,” the statement said.

Though the prison only has capacity to hold 1,000 prisoners, there are currently more than 1,200 inmates being kept in Sittwe Prison, according to sources.

The Arakkha Army (AA) said it is probing into the deaths of Muslims in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township in response to allegations that those Muslims were killed by AA troops.

People and anti-regime groups marked the anniversary by organising anti-regime protests in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions.

The regime has detained at least seven police officers from a local police station on Made Island in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, where China has significant interests.

The gunfire was reported near Natmaw and Zeekaing villages on the outskirts of Taungup Town, and locals are worried about their safety in the aftermath.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs, used to control HIV infection, could previously be bought either from the health department or from pharmacies, but since the regime blocked off the roads, the drugs have completely run out of stock in Arakan State.

The junta airstrikes, the first air assault in Gwa Township, killed the local woman and injured six people — four men and two women — from Kyaukkhaungkwin Village on the Thandwe-Kyeintali-Gwa road and another man from Cedikwin Village.

Driven by intense monsoon rains since late June, severe flooding has impacted more than 200,000 people in Myanmar, with many temporarily displaced, the statement said.

Thandwe residents who were attempting to return to Arakan State after fleeing the fighting to Ayeyarwady Region and Yangon were turned back, said a Thandwe woman taking shelter in Ayeyarwady Region.

“Rice plants are now covered in mud after the flood. Perhaps one-third of rice plants may survive if it rains. But they won’t if it does not rain,” said farmer U Maung Thein Aung from Maha Muni Village.

Karenni State has suffered the most with 920 airstrikes, followed by Shan State with 680 strikes over the past nine months, according to the ISP report.

Junta soldiers stationed in Ywathitkone Village detained seven underage youths while conducting interrogations of passersby on August 6.

U La Min Kyaw Thu, an official from the ABC Foundation, said that donors who had regularly provided support fled to safety due to the instability in Arakan State, resulting in a drop in donations received.

Thai ambassador to Myanmar Mongkol Visitstump met the junta’s immigration and population minister U Myint Kyaing in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. 

Sixty-three women were killed and 43 others were injured at the hands of Myanmar’s military regime last month across the country including Arakan State, the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) said on Tuesday.

Referring to fierce fighting in both northern and southern Arakan State, Min Aung Hlaing said AA leaders are wrecking the lives of Arakanese people with their own hands.