Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) have reportedly intensified in Rathedaung and Minbya townships amid persistent concern among local residents about an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in Arakan State.

Two campaign signboards for the Arakan National Party in Taungup Township’s Maei town were destroyed on October 2, according to the ANP, the latest examples of election-related vandalism in Arakan State during the general election’s canvassing period.

A ward administrator in Mrauk-U was forced to flee home after a man who described himself as a Myanmar military officer accused him of supplying food and funds to the Arakan Army (AA).

Tatmadaw troops took into their custody the administrator of Tawkan village in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township on October 3, according to his family members. 

Some Arakan State residents have complained that they are unable to check revised voter lists online, as the Union Election Commission (UEC) has advised in light of coronavirus stay-at-home orders, with restrictions on internet access still hobbling much of the state.

The Arakan State election subcommission has instructed prison officials to ensure that eligible inmates are able to vote freely in the upcoming general election, according to the subcommission.

Authorities in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have warned that as of the second week in October, legal action will be taken against anyone found outside of their home without special “permission cards” that will be issued to each household in the coming days. 

Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) flared for two days straight in Minbya Township amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in conflict-torn Arakan State, according to locals. 

Two men from Theintan village in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, were detained by the Tatmadaw on October 1, family members of the arrestees said.  

Two residents of Padar village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township were arrested by security personnel on October 1, family members of the detainees said.

Healthcare services are said to be urgently needed for internally displaced people (IDPs) as the number of sick people is increasing at IDP camps in Arakan State, which has the second-highest coronavirus infection rate in Myanmar. 

The number of people internally displaced (IDPs) due to ongoing conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army has increased by more than 36,000 over the past three months, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), which put the total IDP tally at 226,800. 

Residents of Paletwa Township, Chin State, say they are facing travel troubles due to blockades of land routes and waterways in the area amid conflict and COVID-19. 

The military has opened a case against the National Security Organization – Taungup Township (NSOT) after the group accused the Tatmadaw of destroying National League for Democracy (NLD) campaign signboards and blamed its troops for the deaths of four people.  

Fifty-two people from nine townships in Arakan and Chin states have faced legal action for protesting an internet ban in the region since June 2019, the activist group Athan said on October 1 as it rolled out a report analysing the state of free expression in Myanmar. 

A rice mill owner from Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, who was arrested for allegedly storing rice for the Arakan Army, was charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law by a court in Sittwe on October 1, according to family members of the accused. 

Muslim students sheltering at a refugee camp in Bangladesh have donated K500,000 to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State. 

The Myanmar Press Council (MPC) issued a press release on September 29 saying it had asked the government for a third time to include members of the news media among those exempted from coronavirus stay-at-come orders issued by the Ministry of Health and Sports.  

Anxieties are running high among locals in Ann Township, Arakan State, after two unidentified corpses with their hands bound were found along area waterways in recent days.