YANGON: Twelve people have died in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine state in clashes between armed men and troops, state media reported on Wednesday, in a sharp escalation of violence in the restive region.

Four soldiers and one attacker were killed on Tuesday when hundreds of men wielding pistols and swords assailed troops in Pyaungpit village, in Maungdaw township.

Troops also found seven dead along with with rudimentary weapons after fighting broke out in the nearby village of Taung Paing Nyar.

“After the incident, troops found seven dead bodies,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

“Swords and sticks were found with the bodies.”

The military been scouring the region, not far from the border with Bangladesh, after nine police officers were killed on Sunday in coordinated attacks on three border posts.

Most people in the impoverished area are Muslim Rohingya, a stateless minority Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants.

The unrest has raised the spectre of a repeat of 2012 when sectarian violence ripped through Rakhine, killing more than 100 people and driving tens of thousands of Rohingya into displacement camps.

Four men suspected of being involved in Sunday’s attacks, two of whom were named as Andra Mular Kein and Mawlawi Fordita Laung by state media, were also captured on Tuesday. AFP </s> Twelve people have died in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state in clashes between armed men and troops, state media reported on Wednesday, in a sharp escalation of violence in the restive region.

Four soldiers and one attacker were killed on Tuesday when hundreds of men wielding pistols and swords assailed troops in Pyaungpit village, in Maungdaw township.

Troops also found seven dead along with rudimentary weapons after fighting broke out in the nearby village of Taung Paing Nyar.

“After the incident, troops found seven dead bodies,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

“Swords and sticks were found with the bodies.”

The military have been scouring the region, not far from the border with Bangladesh, after nine police officers were killed on Sunday in coordinated attacks on three border posts.

Most people in the impoverished area are Muslim Rohingya, a stateless minority Buddhist nationalists vilify as illegal immigrants.

The unrest has raised the spectre of a repeat of 2012 when sectarian violence ripped through Rakhine, killing more than 100 people and driving tens of thousands of Rohingya into displacement camps.

Four men suspected of being involved in Sunday's attacks, two of whom were named as Andra Mular Kein and Mawlawi Fordita Laung by state media, were also captured on Tuesday. </s> YANGON: Buddhist Rakhine fighters killed seven Myanmar security forces in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state on Friday (Jan 4) as the country marked Independence Day, spokesmen for the military and the armed group said.

The western state has been torn by violence once again since early December, when fighting intensified between government forces and the Arakan Army, which wants more autonomy for the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic minority.

Rakhine was where a brutal military-led crackdown in 2017 drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into bordering Bangladesh.

The recent fighting with the Arakan Army had forced 2,500 civilians to flee their homes by the end of last year, according to the United Nations.

Arakan Army spokesman Khine Thu Kha told Reuters the group attacked four police posts and later retrieved the corpses of seven "enemies".

The group also detained 12 Myanmar security force members, he said. "We will process them according to international law. We will not harm them," he said.

The attacks were a response to a Myanmar military offensive against the Arakan Army in recent weeks that had also targeted civilians, he said.

The Myanmar military last month announced a four-month halt in fighting in the north and northeast of the country to kick-start peace talks with multiple armed groups fighting for ethnic autonomy, but that announcement excluded Rakhine.



Myanmar state media earlier reported an attack by the same group on Tuesday that seriously injured one policemen.

Myanmar military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told Reuters security forces were responding to Friday's attacks, which targeted police posts in the northern parts of Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, a rugged area near the border with Bangladesh.

"The military will continue its operations in the area for security," he said, declining to confirm how many people were killed and captured by the armed group.

"These police posts are there to protect the national races in the area so shouldn't attack them," Zaw Min Tun said, referring to mostly Buddhist ethnic groups in the area that are recognised as Myanmar citizens. Those groups include the Rakhine but not the Rohingya.

Zaw Min Tun said the attacks began minutes after the national flag was raised across Myanmar to mark 71 years since independence from Britain.

The Arakan Army's Khine Thu Kha said the attacks were not intended to coincide with the anniversary.

"We are not independent yet. Today is not our Independence Day," he said, referring to the Rakhine who he said faced discrimination in Myanmar. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption It is not clear who this newly active armed force in Rakhine is

At least four soldiers were killed in a third day of clashes in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state on Tuesday, the army said.

State media said the soldiers were attacked by 300 men armed with pistols, swords and knives.

Nine police officers were killed in co-ordinated attacks at the weekend along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh.

Rakhine has seen long-running tensions between Buddhists and the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Yangon says it is not clear who is behind this newly active armed force in Rakhine, but the Rohingya are being blamed for the attacks.

If that is the case, it would mark a worrying new phase of the crisis in Rakhine state, our correspondent adds.

Journalists are not being allowed in the area.

In 2012, communal violence gripped Rakhine, killing more than 100 people and driving thousands of Rohingya into refugee camps where many still live.

The Rohingya say they are descendants of Arab traders and have been in Myanmar for generations.

But many among the Buddhist majority believe they are Bengali migrants, and they are denied citizenship by the government.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption A funeral service was held for the nine police officers who were killed during co-ordinated attacks at the border

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Some of the people suspected of involvement in the weekend attacks were taken into custody

Tuesday's clashes in Pyaungpit village in Maungdaw township also left one attacker dead, according to the AFP news agency.

Troops also found seven dead bodies, state media said. Witnesses told the BBC the bodies were found dumped in a mass grave.

The UN has expressed "deep concern" and asked all sides to "exercise maximum restraint".

"At this delicate juncture, the local communities at all levels must refuse to be provoked by these incidents and their leaders must work actively to prevent incitement of animosity or mutual hatred between Buddhist and Muslim communities," the special adviser to the secretary-general on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, said in a statement. </s> Nine policemen have been killed in a militant attack in the western Rakhine state of Myanmar. Nearly 60 members of the Arakan Army terrorist group attacked using small and large weapons.

The attack, carried out by Arakan Army insurgents, happened late yesterday in Yoetayoke village, just an hour north of Rakhine state’s capital Sittwe.

The insurgent Arakan Army killed 13 police in a similar attack further north in January and has frequently clashed with Myanmar security forces since December. </s> Rakhine rebels kill nine in fresh strike on Myanmar police: official

Arakan Army insurgents killed nine Myanmar police in the latest attack in the country’s western Rakhine State, a local official said on Sunday, as clashes threaten to engulf a large part of the troubled region. </s> YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar's government has reported fierce fighting in the western state of Rakhine, where the army has been conducting counterinsurgency operations since nine police officers were killed in attacks on posts along the border with Bangladesh last month.

An Information Ministry statement said government troops were ambushed Saturday morning by about 60 attackers armed with guns, knives and spears. It said one soldier and at least six attackers died, adding that an army officer died in a later battle against 500 armed men, which ended when two air force helicopters joined the fight.

The attackers weren't identified, but the army has aligned with Rakhine Buddhists against Muslims of the Rohingya ethnic minority since violent intercommunal conflict erupted in 2012. Human rights groups have accused government forces of abuses against Rohingya civilians.
In a third day of fighting, an attack in Rakhine State kills four Myanmar soldiers.