Myanmar’s army emptying Rakhine villages to boost defenses against rebels

July 11, 2024

Myanmar’s military has been emptying villages on the outskirts of the capital of the western state of Rakhine as part of an evident effort to defend against expected attacks by a powerful rebel group that has captured most of the surrounding area, according to residents, a local activist group and media reports on Tuesday, AP […]Continue Reading

AA troops surround last Myanmar junta base in Maungdaw, Rakhine

July 4, 2024

Arakan Army (AA) troops have entered Maungdaw town in Rakhine State after seizing all junta positions including border guard police bases north and south of the town, sources close to the AA told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. The only junta presence left in Maungdaw Township is Border Guard Police Battalion 5 in Myo Thugyi ward […]Continue Reading

Rohingya minority in firing line as rebels attack western Myanmar town

July 3, 2024

NEWS DESK It was soon after afternoon prayers at a mosque near western Myanmar’s Maungdaw town last month that 45-year-old Abdur said he looked up and spotted a drone hovering above. It was armed. “Within seconds, there was an explosion, and I lost consciousness,” said the bearded farmer, asking only to use his first name […]Continue Reading

Indian blockade isolates Myanmar’s Rakhine, pressures Arakan Army to leave Chin State

June 29, 2024

Central Young Lai Association, an Indian civil society organization based in Mizoram, has blockaded the trade route used to import goods from India to war-wrecked Rakhine State through Chin State’s Paletwa Township to pressure the Arakan Army (AA) into leaving Chin State, The Irrawaddy reports. The blockade further isolates Rakhine, which is already suffering from […]Continue Reading

Fighting intensifies on Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh

June 8, 2024

Fighting has intensified along Rakhine State’s border with Bangladesh in southern Maungdaw Township as the Arakan Army (AA) attacks border guard police positions to seize the entire township in the state’s northwest, residents of the township say, The Irrawaddy reports. They said the ethnic army is targeting border guard police positions in the township’s south […]Continue Reading

Biden’s Gaza plan ‘not a good deal’ but Israel accepts it, Netanyahu aide says

June 2, 2024

An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war now being advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work, Reuters reports. In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, […]Continue Reading

Myanmar junta kills eleven Rakhine villagers: Residents

June 2, 2024

Myanmar’s junta reportedly killed 11 civilians and destroyed 100 houses during a raid on a village near Rakhine State’s capital, Sittwe, on Wednesday night, The Irrawaddy reports. All Byian Phyu villagers were forced into a field and the houses were searched for evidence of Arakan Army (AA) support. The group is deploying around Sittwe. Around […]Continue Reading

Biden details Gaza truce proposal, Hamas responds positively

June 1, 2024

US President Joe Biden on Friday laid out what he described as a three-phase Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of Israeli hostages, saying “it’s time for this war to end” and winning a positive initial reaction from Hamas, Reuters reports. The first phase involves a six-week ceasefire when […]Continue Reading

Rohingya forced to fight alongside Myanmar Army tormentors

May 29, 2024

Rohingya mother Sofura Begum has spent years in a squalid refugee camp after fleeing Myanmar. Now her teenage son has been taken to fight alongside the troops that put her there, AFP reports. Militant Rohingya groups in Bangladesh have forcibly recruited hundreds of young Rohingya men and boys to battle the Arakan Army (AA), a […]Continue Reading

Some 45,000 Rohingya flee amid allegations of beheading, burning in Myanmar

May 29, 2024

Escalating violence in conflict-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine State has forced another 45,000 minority Rohingya to flee, the United Nations warned, amid allegations of beheadings, killings and burnings of property, reports Al Jazeera. Clashes have rocked Rakhine State since the Arakan Army (AA) rebels attacked forces of the ruling military government in November, ending a Continue Reading