The government has imposed a new curfew from 9pm to 5am in five townships in Rakhine State, amid continued fighting between the Myanmar Army and the AA, an ethnic armed insurgency group. According to a statement signed by Colonel Phone Tint, Minister for Security and Border Affairs, the curfew would come into effect in the townships of Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Minbya and Mrauk-U in response to the fighting. U Tun Aung Kyaw, secretary of the Arakan National Party (ANP), told the Myanmar Times that the curfew “holds unpleasant potential” for the state. An estimated 17,000 civilians have been displaced by the fighting between the two groups. The fighting spiked in January after the AA launched attacks on police outposts on January 4, Myanmar’s Independence Day.