"I heard rumours that military troops were marching toward the villages and shooting civilians," says Mg Mg, one of the many villagers to have sought shelter at a monastery after clashes broke out between the Arakan Army and the military last week in the western part of Rakhine. More than 286,000 people in Myanmar have been displaced so far by recent fighting between the junta and the ethnic groups, according to the UN that describes it as the biggest escalation since the 2021 coup. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES