YANGON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Rohingya Muslim insurgents ambushed a vehicle in western Myanmar's Rakhine State on Friday, wounding three people, including two members of the security forces, the military said.

A wave of attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on the security posts on Aug. 25 sparked sweeping army counter-insurgency operations in the Muslim-majority north of the state that led to widespread violence and arson and an exodus of some 650,000 Rohingya villagers to Bangladesh.

The United Nations condemned the Myanmar military campaign as ethnic cleansing. Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejected that.

But since Aug. 25, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents, who claimed responsibility for the coordinated raids on 30 security posts, have mounted only a few sporadic attacks.

The government did not identify the insurgents involved in the Friday attack on a vehicle taking someone to hospital but the military said in a statement they were "extremist Bengali terrorists ARSA".

"A vehicle ... was attacked by 20 insurgents from the mountain using homemade mines and small arms," the government said. The military said there were about 10 attackers.

An ARSA spokesman was not available for comment. There was no mention of any incident on a Twitter account that routinely carries statements from the group.

The Yangon-based Frontier Myanmar magazine quoted a resident of a nearby village as saying sporadic gunfire had been heard at the time of the ambush.

The area is largely off-limits to reporters.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have been discussing a plan to repatriate the Rohingya refugees but more insecurity in Myanmar is likely to raise doubts about how quickly that might take place. (Reporting by Shoon Naing; Editing by Robert Birsel) </s> YANGON (Reuters) - Rohingya Muslim insurgents ambushed a military vehicle in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, wounding five members of the security forces, state media and officials said, and the rebels claimed responsibility for the rare attack.

A wave of raids by the insurgents on security force posts on Aug. 25 sparked sweeping army counter-insurgency operations in the Muslim-majority north of the state that led to widespread violence and arson and an exodus of some 650,000 Rohingya villagers to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The United Nations condemned the Myanmar military campaign as ethnic cleansing. Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejected that.

But since Aug. 25, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents, who claimed responsibility for the coordinated raids on 30 security posts, have mounted only a few sporadic attacks.

The military said “extremist Bengali terrorists ARSA” carried out the Friday attack on a truck taking someone to hospital.

“A vehicle ... was attacked by 20 insurgents from the mountain using homemade mines and small arms,” the government said. The military said there were about 10 attackers.

An ARSA spokesman said his group had carried out the attack.

“Yes, ARSA takes responsibility for the latest military movement,” the spokesman told Reuters through a messaging service.

He said further details may be revealed later.

The ARSA dismisses any links to Islamist militant groups and says it is fighting to end the oppression of the Rohingya people.

The Yangon-based Frontier Myanmar magazine quoted a resident of a nearby village as saying sporadic gunfire had been heard at the time of the ambush. A state-run newspaper reported on Saturday that fighting continued after the ambush.

The area is largely off-limits to reporters.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have been discussing a plan to repatriate the Rohingya refugees but more insecurity in Myanmar is likely to raise doubts about how quickly that might take place. </s> Dozens have died since Friday as scores of men purportedly from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) ambushed Myanmar police posts with knives, guns and homemade explosives </s> Rohingya rebels attacked an army truck in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state and wounded five soldiers, state media said.

A spokesman for the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for the ambush on Friday.

“A vehicle … was attacked by 20 insurgents from the mountain using homemade mines and small arms,” the government said, adding about 10 rebels were involved.

The military added “extremist Bengali terrorists ARSA” carried out the ambush.

A series of attacks on security installations last August ignited an exodus of more than 620,000 Rohingya villagers from Rakhine into neighbouring Bangladesh, after Myanmar soldiers launched a brutal crackdown.

Fleeing Rohingya have reported many stories of mass killings, gang-rape, and arson attacks by security forces.

The United Nations has called violence against civilians “ethnic cleansing”, but Myanmar’s government has rejected the description.

A rebel spokesman confirmed his group had carried out the attack. “Yes, ARSA takes responsibility for the latest military movement,” the unidentified fighter told Reuters news agency.

Yangon-based Frontier Myanmar magazine reported six soldiers were hospitalised, one with critical wounds.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal last month for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, but little is known of its details. </s> The night after a series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents in northern Rakhine State, frightened residents of one area found themselves trapped by attackers’ land mines, and those evacuated from another area gathered in a nearby town patrolled by the army and police.

Authorities said police posts came under attack in the early hours Friday by an estimated 150 insurgents armed with guns and homemade explosives. The attackers were believed to be Muslim, a minority in Rakhine State, where a religious divide centers on the stateless Rohingya, who are disdained by many Buddhists and seen as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

The attacks resulted in at least 71 deaths, with Burmese officials saying 59 of them were insurgents and the rest security personnel.

Members of the local Buddhist community, who are a minority in the Maungdaw area, spent a fearful night after officials warned them that attackers had mined roads in the rugged coastal area.

“We don’t want people to get hurt,” Maung Ohn, the Maungdaw representative in the Rakhine State legislature, told VOA Burmese. “Now they are trapped inside the town.”

One Maungdaw resident, a provincial government employee, told VOA that although Buddhist Rakhines fear for their safety, “there is no way out of here. We heard about land mines and roadside bombs planted along main roads. Not even one vehicle dares to drive to Buthee Taung, two hours away. We can’t go until the mines are cleared.”

Some areas of Buthee Taung remain outside official control, said Tun Aung Thein, who represents the town in the legislature. “There are places in a Buthee Taung suburb where security forces cannot reach, and people from there have moved into the town proper. That’s where about 100 people from three villages, Thabeit Taung, Kin Chaung and Thabawh Chaung, have taken refuge, too.

“We’ve got the army and police patrolling the downtown area because everyone’s worried … because the attacks last night were around 1:30 in the morning. Nobody dares to sleep. They are frightened,” Tun Aung Thein said.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for the assaults, and warned of more.

ARSA, previously known as Harakah al-Yaqin, or “Faith Movement,” emerged last October claiming to lead an insurgency based in the remote May Yu mountain range bordering Bangladesh.

Myanmar’s commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said on his Facebook page late Friday that the attacks were planned to coincide with the release of a report by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to gain attention during the General Assembly next month.

After the attacks, government forces evacuated several dozen government staffers and their families, as well as some 400 villagers from near the Nanthataung Philanthropic School, according to the State Counsellor Office Information Committee in Rangoon.

“It is clear that today’s attacks are a calculated attempt to undermine the efforts of those seeking to build peace and harmony in Rakhine State. We must not allow our work to be derailed by the violent actions of extremists,” she said.

The violence follows the release of a report by the Annan commission on the conditions in Rakhine State.

The report urged the government to take immediate action to heal the divides and to abolish the restrictions of movement and citizenship imposed on 1 million Rohingya in Rakhine.

After meeting with Annan on Thursday, General Min Aung Hlaing expressed displeasure with the findings, saying Annan and others had failed to understand what was happening on the ground in Rakhine.

Annan commission member Aye Lwin, a prominent Muslim and interfaith leader, told VOA Burmese on Friday that the army and police need to mount a security operation in the area to prevent further attacks.

“I think the best way to resolve this conflict is to implement our recommendation as soon as possible,” Lwin said. “As militant attacks escalate in Rakhine State, we need to tackle the situation from all angles. Any clearance or security operation must be handled systematically but wisely and delicately if this is to be contained.”

The U.N. condemned Friday's attacks and said they confirm "the significance of the government's commitment to implement" the Annan commission recommendations.

Amnesty International said the attacks marked a dangerous escalation of violence in the area.

"We urge all sides to show the utmost restraint and ensure that ordinary people are protected from human rights violations and abuses," the rights group said.

The area of Rakhine closest to Bangladesh has been in lockdown since October 2016, when years of friction between the Rohingya and Myanmar's Buddhist majority exploded with a military crackdown in response to attacks on border police stations that left nine police officers dead. During the crackdown, thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, complaining of systematic killings, arson and rapes by Myanmar military forces.

The U.N. said the security forces' clearances have amounted to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

The army and the Myanmar’s civilian government deny allegations of widespread abuses, including rapes and murders.
ARSA insurgents, using small arms and homemade land mines, ambush a Burmese military convoy in the village of Turaing. Three members of Myanmar's security forces are reportedly wounded.