Five local people including a pregnant woman from Abel Village and two others from Jeittaw Village were killed in a junta artillery assault on July 19.

USDP spokesman U Hla Thein said so at a debate titled and unironically punctuated as “Federalism or Terrorism?”, organised by the regime on Sunday.

The Arakkha Army (AA) is focused on attacking the Maung Shwe Lay naval base in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township as the regime reinforces the naval base by sea.

The bodies of seven ethnic Khami men from Gandaryone displacement camp in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, who were brutally killed by armed Muslim men, were discovered late last week, the Arakkha Army (AA) said in a statement on Sunday.

Due to frequent artillery strikes in Taungup Township, as well as intense and ongoing fighting in nearby Thandwe Township, parents of students said that forcing their children to go to school is a safety concern.

Some 50 junta soldiers and police raided Maungdaw’s Myoma Ward and abducted the 10 men and one minor at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a source said.

Most of the missing civilians are from Thandwe and Ngapali towns. They include 18 men, 17 women, three children, and seven others whose identities are unknown.

The Lawngtlai District Court in India's Mizoram state issued a ban on the export of fuel from the district to neighbouring countries including Myanmar.

"The regime seems to be preparing a defence to defend against the AA offensive. Junta soldiers have reportedly taken positions atop buildings in downtown Taungup," said a local man in Taungup.

Fierce fighting has been reported near Ann, Arakan State, after the Arakkha Army (AA) launched an offensive against the Myanmar military’s Ann-based Western Command on Wednesday.

Seasonal crops such as mangoes, rambutan and pineapples have been fetching good prices in conflict-torn Arakan State and sales are brisk compared with last year, according to fruit growers.

Vessels carrying about 1 billion kyats worth of goods were stopped by junta soldiers at a jetty in Pathein Township in the first week of July.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has invited four Myanmar political parties whose registrations have been approved by the junta’s election body to pay a goodwill visit to China from July 20-27.

According to junta media, the two discussed promotion of ties between the two armed forces, closer cooperation in the rule of law along the border, defence matters and the exchange of trainees.

While most Sittwe residents have fled to safer locations fearing fighting, the remaining residents are stuck in the Arakan State capital due to financial constraints and road blockades.

As healthcare workers working in remote areas are fleeing to safety due to fighting between the military regime and Arakkha Army (AA), local residents face an increasingly dire health emergency.

Junta soldiers in Thandwe fled to the Maung Shwe Lay naval base and about 400 local people trapped by fighting are reportedly being evacuated by the AA.

“Fighting has not yet taken place [in Manaung], but the regime is making preparations to defend it. Residents do not feel safe. The regime does not allow people to leave the town,” said a Manaung resident.

“They fled to Sittwe while fighting was escalating in Buthidaung. They were forcibly conscripted over the past few days,” said one source.