TARGETED AIRSTRIKES AND CATASTROPHIC FLOODS WORSEN ARAKAN'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
The ULA consolidated control across Arakan State in July 2026 through banking system establishment, business licensing, and renaming Minbya and Pauktaw to historic titles on July 29. The junta responded with relentless airstrikes killing at least 12 civilians and bombing a POW camp in Maungdaw that killed four detainees ...
RAINY SEASON BRINGS INCREASING CHALLENGES UNDER JUNTA AIR ATTACKS
The AA significantly expanded control in June 2026, encircling Kyaukphyu's naval station and repelling a major junta offensive along the Rakhine-Magway border, killing 30 troops and capturing over 20 soldiers. The junta responded with intensified airstrikes and troop reinforcements while conducting mass civilian arrests in Sittwe and Ramree on suspicion of AA ties. Min Aung Hlaing visited China...
ONGOING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND SOCIOECONOMIC CRISIS AMIDST MILITARY TENSION
The Arakan Army (AA) significantly expanded territorial control and statelike governance functions in May 2026, seizing junta camps, issuing vehicle licenses, releasing prisoners of war, and conducting ...
THE ARAKAN ARMY’S 17TH ANNIVERSARY, ONGOING MILITARY TENSION, AND HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES
On April 11, AA Commander-in-Chief Maj-Gen Tun Myat Naing declared on the group's 17th anniversary that his forces would fight until the complete liberation of Arakan/Rakhine State, rejecting any compromise with the junta and receiving solidarity from over 30 revolutionary organizations. The junta...
OIL CRISIS ADDS ANOTHER LAYER TO CIVILIAN HARDSHIP IN ARAKAN
In March 2026, Arakan’s economy faced intersecting pressures from global geopolitical shocks (Iran conflict), internal regulatory changes (AA licensing, NUG permits), and cross-border dynamics. Fuel prices skyrocketed unevenly—severe in junta-held Sittwe, more stable but rising in AA areas—, ...
Monthly Report | February 2026
INHUMANE AIR STRIKES AND CIVILIAN SUFFERING CONTINUE IN ARAKAN
Arakan’s economy under AA/ULA (United League of Arakan) showed resilience but faced collapse from conflict: paddy market failure caused farmer debts and reduced planting, met by ULA paddy purchases and fertilizer aid. Mizoram-Paletwa border trade halted briefly due to ...
BATTLE FOR RAKHINE’S LAST STRONGHOLDS: ARAKAN ARMY OFFENSIVES, SHAM ELECTIONS, AND CIVILIAN HARDSHIP IN SITTWE-KYAUkPHYU
In January 2026, Arakan saw intense fighting as the Arakan Army (AA/ULA) pressed offensives toward Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, capturing outposts, inflicting heavy junta casualties, and prompting soldier ...
Monthly Report | December 2025
December 2025 saw continued intense conflict in Arakan, with the Arakan Army (AA) achieving substantial military advances against the Myanmar junta across multiple fronts, including heavy casualties inflicted on regime forces and, ...
Monthly Report | November 2025
In November 2025, it is reported that the Arakan Army crushed a major junta offensive in Kyaukphyu (1–9 Nov), routing all three assault columns. The regime responded with relentless airstrikes and artillery, killing 115–120 civilians...
Rakhine State in October 2025 saw escalating violence with ARSA executing ethnic civilians, mass junta surrenders to AA at Nat Yekan, and over 970 civilian deaths from military operations amid relentless airstrikes. AA seized strategic control while imposing governance measures and facing...
Monthly Report | September 2025
From September 1 to 30, 2025, Rakhine State faced intense conflict, with a junta airstrike killing 23 students in Kyauktaw on September 12–13. The Arakan Army (AA) forced ARSA and RSO militants to...
Junta airstrikes and naval attacks in Kyaukphyu and Mrauk-U killed civilians, including 14 in Mrauk- U, displacing over 50,000 in Kyaukphyu by August 30. The Arakan Army (AA) clashed with junta forces...
The 2025 elections in Myanmar were conducted amid ongoing armed conflicts, territorial fragmentation, and political suppression and repression, functioning primarily as a managed authoritarian process rather than...
From November 2023 to December 2024, the resumption of armed clashes in Arakan, driven by the Arakan Army (AA) as part of the broader '1027 Operation,' severely disrupted border trade with Bangladesh ...
While alliances in northern Myanmar remain strategically important, these new western partnerships reflect the AA’s dual focus on homeland security and a broader political role in Myanmar’s future ...
While the Rakhine attribute the crisis to the loss of sovereignty and lack of autonomy for their region, the Rohingya view the lack of recognition of their ‘Rohingya identity’ and status as an indigenous ethnic group...
In comparison between Cyclone Nargis and Mocha, the military regimes’ responses, and actions towards the cyclones’ management in short and long-term perspectives can be seen as not too different. Their own actions for emergency responses and rehabilitation processes remain insufficient in certain factors that lead the affected communities to be more harmful.
The Rakhine State in Myanmar offers immense potential for foreign direct investment (FDI) owing to its strategic location, abundant natural resources, and diverse opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, fishery, tourism, oil and gas, and services. In this context, it is essential to examine the major investments made by China and India in Rakhine State to understand their implications for the local stakeholders.
While the junta’s forces and Arakan Army (AA) are now in an informal truce, the news of the registration of the political parties in Rakhine have become more prominent in March. As the twoarmed parties are in a lack of trust toward each other,...
While the junta’s forces and Arakan Army (AA) are now in an informal truce, the news of the registration of the political parties in Rakhine have become more prominent in March.
In February 2023, both tensions and relaxation could be seen in politics in Rakhine State. Tensions between the Arakan Army, and junta forces happened due after the junta forces' reinforcement such as military types of equipment, patrol and,...
Just 20 months after a de facto ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), a series of armed clashes resumed in three locations in northern Rakhine,...
