Individual Arakanese people will continue to lose access to rights and opportunities unless stability prevails in Arakan State, said junta boss Min Aung Hlaing in his message to mark the 49th anniversary of Arakan State Day on Friday.

About 1,200 basic education schools have been closed in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Maungdaw, Minbya, Myebon and Ann townships due to fighting.

In the past it was almost exclusively the rural parts of Arakan State that needed to worry about landmines, but these days urban dwellers are also worried about the risk.

A local man from Ward-4 in Buthidaung, Arakan State, has been arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA).

Myanmar’s military regime has reportedly arrested two local men in Thandwe District, Arakan State, for allegedly supporting the Arakan Army (AA) and People’s Defence Force (PDF).

The central committee on special economic zones in Myanmar held a meeting on Tuesday, which was attended by officials of the management committees of the Thilawa, Kyaukphyu and Dawei SEZs.

Some pagodas and stupas in the ancient city of Mrauk-U’s cultural heritage zone were damaged by junta air and artillery strikes on Wednesday.

Apart from fighting, it has been the junta’s indiscriminate artillery strikes, air strikes, arson attacks and arbitrary arrests that have contributed to the mass displacement.

Clashes between the military and AA are reported daily in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon and Ann townships in Arakan State, and in Chin State’s Paletwa Township.

“We only ask our children to eat full, and we eat less food. We face more hardships as we have many family members. We are in trouble as we no longer receive relief aid,” said Daw Moe Moe Nwe, an IDP woman.

Junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA) clashed at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Mrauk-U town, with the regime using a gunship during the fighting, according to local residents.

Myanmar’s military regime is using the India-funded port in Sittwe to deliver construction materials to its battalions in the Arakan State capital, according to locals.

More than 100 junta soldiers have reportedly abandoned two hilltop camps near Panmyaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Minbya Township, according to local people.

Myanmar’s military regime has blockaded Paletwa town in southern Chin State as of Monday, after losing control of two tactical command bases in the town.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun has accused media agencies of making negative reports about the political dialogue between Myanmar’s military regime and the Brotherhood Alliance.

“Junta soldiers and policemen arrived at BXT port in two military trucks, detained several ferry boatmen and opened fire on people on sight,” said one boatman.

The Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement on December 12 that it will not ignore the political goals of the entire Myanmar people, who have been suffering from the oppression of the military regime for generations.

Myanmar’s military regime detained two Myeik-based reporters working for Dawei Watch on December 11, the Dawei-based news outlet said in a statement on Wednesday.

The junta’s military bases in Kyaukphyu Township have carried out continuous artillery and naval bombardment and shooting since renewed fighting broke out between the regime and the Arakan Army (AA) in the second week of November.