US aid cuts to Myanmar are having catastrophic impact, UN rapporteur says

March 17, 2025

US cuts to humanitarian aid are having a crushing impact on people in Myanmar, with violence likely to spiral, Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar told a press briefing in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports Sudden cuts to food and health programs supporting people have made an […]Continue Reading

Necessary dialogue must take place with Arakan Army: Guterres

March 15, 2025

NEWS DESK UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said the Arakan Army is an entity with which he believes a “necessary dialogue must take place” but stressed that it would be “extremely difficult” to have an immediate “dignified return” of the Rohingya refugees amid heavy fighting between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army. Continue Reading

UN considering humanitarian channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar

March 15, 2025

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday the organisation is exploring the possibility of a humanitarian aid channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar, AFP reports. Guterres is on a four-day visit to Bangladesh that saw him meet on Friday with Rohingya refugees, threatened by looming humanitarian aid cuts. Around a million members of the persecuted and […]Continue Reading

 ‘Inch by inch’: Myanmar rebels close in on key military base in Chin State

March 15, 2025

In the mountains of western Myanmar, photographs of fallen fighters line a wall of a rebel headquarters – an honour roll of some 80 young men, beginning with 28-year-old Salai Cung Naw Piang, who was killed in May 2021, Al Jazeera reports. The true toll on the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) extends beyond this […]Continue Reading

Arakan Army Threatens Myanmar Junta Naval Base at Sittwe

March 13, 2025

NEWS DESK The Arakan Army (AA) has advanced towards the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, including an attack on a junta naval base 4km north of the city, according to the Rakhine media, The Irrawaddy reports. Western News reported clashes around Thone Soung village and at the Min Gan base, a strategic stronghold fortified with naval […]Continue Reading

Arakan Army targets Myanmar Junta’s Rakhine power hub

November 10, 2024

Fighting between Myanmar’s junta and the Arakan Army (AA) has been reported in Maungdaw, Gwa, Taungup and Ann townships in Rakhine State, The Irrawaddy reports. In Ann and Gwa, the AA said it seized two battalion headquarters and two outposts on Wednesday. The Tai Kyoe and Pagan Taung outposts in Gwa fell after a day […]Continue Reading

Arakan Army Seizes Myanmar Navy SEAL Base in Rakhine State

September 8, 2024

The ethnic Arakan Army (AA) said it seized the junta’s Navy Seal Training Center near the tourist destination of Ngapali Beach in Thandwe Township, southern Rakhine State on Thursday after a month of intense fighting, The Irrawaddy reports. The junta stronghold, known officially as the Central Naval Diving and Salvage Depot (CNDSD), is the first […]Continue Reading

Myanmar junta struggles in Rakhine as Arakan Army gains ground

August 12, 2024

The Arakan Army (AA) pressed forward with its offensive in Rakhine State, advancing to Gwa Township, where they launched attacks on junta forces positioned at a checkpoint near a bridge in Chinkwin village, Kyeintali sub-township, The Irrawaddy reports. Around 70 junta soldiers and militia members were positioned at the checkpoint, located 48km south of Thandwe […]Continue Reading

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