Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks during a meeting on January 6 with representatives from some political parties that have applied for registration with the junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC).

The Arakan Army (AA) has seized a junta tactical command base east of the Kaladan River, near Tinma Village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement on Saturday.

Two local men in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have been charged under the Unlawful Associations Act on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), according to Rakhine Daily, a mouthpiece of the Arakan State military council.

The Chinese vice foreign minister’s visit to Naypyidaw followed an artillery strike from the Myanmar military that resulted in the injury of Chinese citizens in Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar’s Shan State.

Civilian casualties continue to mount in Arakan State, where Myanmar’s military regime has been accused of retaliating for Arakan Army (AA) attacks on its troop positions by targeting civilian populations. 

Dozens of local residents detained by Myanmar’s military regime at BXT port in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on December 12 have reportedly been fined and released, according to family members.

Seven political prisoners in Arakan State’s Sittwe Prison were among thousands pardoned by Myanmar’s military regime on Wednesday in a mass amnesty to mark the 76th anniversary of Independence Day.

Rural residents, including pregnant women, are facing adverse health conditions as the regime imposed its travel restrictions amid a shortage of health workers and medical supplies.

Junta-appointed Information Minister U Maung Maung Ohn has accused independent media agencies of spreading fake news and misinformation about Myanmar’s ongoing political and economic situation.

Local charities in Arakan State have run out of fuel amid the escalating armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), which has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties to date.

Fierce fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) continued in Paletwa, Chin State, on Friday, with the regime launching airstrikes on the ethnic armed group’s positions, locals said.

The regime has imposed a nighttime curfew from 9 p.m. to dawn in Sittwe since renewed fighting broke out on November 13. Town residents say they have spotted groups of men entering wards at night.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance issued a statement on January 4 asking residents of the villages bordering Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships in Arakan State to live with military alert.

Regime soldiers have been regularly arresting civilians under various pretexts since renewed fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) broke out in Arakan State on November 13.

A student at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) was killed in an artillery strike on Kharuchaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township, at about 9 p.m. on January 4.

The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) said in a January 3 report that Myanmar’s military regime committed 4,656 cases of human rights violations in 2023.

NGOs and INGOs are relied upon for humanitarian activities in Arakan State, including food supply distribution, healthcare, education and many other local development sectors.

“Previously, political parties in Arakan State spoke out against cruelty and human rights violations of the military council. They spoke up for the Myanmar people. But they have been silent now,” said social activist Ko Tun Tun from Sittwe.

Three residents in Kanthayar Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, were injured after an artillery shell fired by the No. 5 Border Guard Force fell and exploded in the village at around 1 a.m. on January 4.