The Myanmar military is conducting army-navy joint operations to crush the Arakan Army (AA), junta media reported, following the AA’s attack on a border guard police outpost in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township on Monday.

The AA offensive against the two hilltop positions near Taronai Village began around 6 a.m. on November 14, and junta troops responded with aerial support and shelling, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement.

The AA attacked junta positions in at least five locations in Rathedaung, Maungdaw and Minbya townships on Monday, seizing the Donpaik border guard police outpost in Rathedaung. It seized another border guard police outpost in Cheinkalein on Tuesday morning.

An Arakan Army (AA) official has warned that action will be taken against merchants who increase the prices of basic commodities excessively during renewed hostilities in Arakan State.

The plaintiffs were scheduled to appear before the Sittwe Township Court at the hearing on November 13, but proceedings were put off until the next court hearing on November 28 after the plaintiffs failed to appear.

The Brotherhood Alliance has issued a warning to junta soldiers and police of Myanmar’s military regime in Arakan State, urging them to surrender or be killed.

Fishermen said they were informed by the township administrator on November 13 that fishing boats that were still at sea should also be brought back to port.

Armed conflicts have a negative impact on communities, posing risks to their safety and means of living, said an ICRC statement on November 13, adding: “Civilians are not the target.” 

Junta troops surrendered or fled their bases in Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun and Kyaukphyu townships on the first day of renewed fighting in Arakan State, according to the Arakan Army (AA) and local residents.

More than 200 local residents reportedly fled in fear after a junta soldier was shot dead near a local bazaar in Nyaungchaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, on Monday morning.

In response to AA attacks on multiple junta positions in Arakan State on Monday, the Myanmar military fired artillery shells that landed in and around villages, leading to school closures out of both precaution and necessity.

Armoured vehicles were reported on the streets of Sittwe by 2 p.m. on November 13, just hours after the early morning attacks on junta outposts in neighbouring Rathedaung and Minbya townships.

The military government blocked off the Yangon-Sittwe and Angumaw-Maungdaw roads in Rathedaung Township on Monday morning as the fighting began, according to locals and truck drivers.

Two people were killed and three others were injured after a civilian vehicle and a three-wheeled motorbike were attacked in Mrauk-U, Arakan State, on the morning of November 13, according to local social organisations.

“I woke up when I heard gunfire at my paddy farm. The sounds of heavy weapons and small arms fire are still heard,” said U Aung Than, a local man from Koetankauk Village.

Construction of a retaining wall with a length of 550 feet and a width of 2 metres will be completed in March 2024, said Ko Phyo Wailin, assistant engineer of the retaining wall construction team.

About 5,000 acres of winter crops were planted in the Laymyo Creek area of Mrauk-U Township, where a lot of winter crops were grown last year, but where only about 3,000 acres of winter crops were planted this year.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun told junta-controlled media on Friday that the regime was regaining control over some townships.

Karenni resistance forces launched offensives against junta positions in Loikaw Township, the capital of Kayah (Karenni) State, early Saturday morning, with some 30,000 residents trapped in the town.