The Myanmar government has cut off Internet service in war torn areas in eight townships in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in Chin State for 50 days. The Internet blackout has reached 50 days on 10 August.

Civilians who have lost limbs due to artillery fire or landmine explosions due to ongoing fighting need prosthetic replacements, aid workers said. 

The Yangon Region’s Western District court indicted Arakanese deportees under the Counter-Terrorism Law that might carry a life sentence on 9 August.

Five schools in Rathedaung Township and eight schools in Minbya Township have been closed after villagers fled to safety during fighting in their areas, said U Sein Tun Hla, deputy director general of the Arakan State Education Office.

The administrator of Thameehla (Yet Khone Daing) village in RathedaungTownship is a staunch supporter of the Arakan Army and attacked military troops many times with explosive devices, the Tatmadaw announced.

The humanitarian assistance for Arakanese IDPs has been decreasing because the Arakan State government has limited INGOs, apart from the WFP and ICRC, to provide aid for Arakanese IDP camps and imposed restriction on local CSOs to apply for permits before collecting funds for IDPs, he said.

Local parliamentarians said they found at the end of July that a fish crushing factory near Pin Lal Nar village in Kin Myauk village tract of Kyauk Phyu Township was planning to run the factory on coal.

The number of students enrolled in monastic schools in Arakan State has increased this year because of fighting between Tatmadaw and Arakan Army (AA), said the venerable monk U Ar Yiya Wantha, secretary of a monastic school group. 

The Tatmadaw troops moved into the village shooting guns that scared local residents and they fled from their homes, said a villager who fled from their home and on the condition of anonymity.

Tatmadaw soldiers on August 5 arrested a primary school teacher, Nay Zaw Linn, 27, who worked in Pyin Chaung Village of Buthedaung Township, for questioning.

Four of 11 people arrested by police for alleged links to the Arakan Army (AA) were allowed to meet their families on August 8 at Ponnagyun township’s police station, U Maung Maung Than, a family member of detainees  told DMG.

The government has provided adequate assistance to the increasing number of IDPs in northern Arakan State, said Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U SoeAung.

A township court on August 7 fined members of Ya Kha Taw Win charity group for collecting donations without a permit from the authorities.

Relief aid groups have to submit applications to proper township administrators to raise funds in towns and villages, but authorities have delayed granting permits.

“Soldiers told us we were not allowed to go to these villages because of their superiors’ orders. By obstructing villagers to seek a safe and secure haven is a form of violating human rights because all citizens have a right to move where they please,”

The military troop took U Hla Maung, 35, the head of hundred households for Khapaw village and U Thauk Kyar Aung, 51, the head of ten households for the same village, to guide them to go to Mar Lar village, one mile from their village.

“Students fled from conflict zone are in need of educational access and they lack required documents and educational materials such as books. The main objective is for students to be able to pursue their education this year,” the lawmaker said.

Military troops have been positioned in Sat Yoe Kya creek for security after the AA’s attack on a Navy’s vessel that’s anchored in the creek near Kyay Daw village in July; this impacts local residents’ businesses in nearby villages. 

Eleven young villagers from Ponnagyun Township were detained by police on 27 July and eight of them have been interrogated in Ponnagyun Myoma police station after they were found being mobilized to join in the AA, the Tatmadaw announced.