COX'S BAZAR: Officials say three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies have been recovered.Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S M Ariful Islam said today that the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered from the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox's Bazar.He said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims had capsized yesterday and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing.Last week, Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts in Myanmar, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.The top official in Cox's Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them. </s> COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Officials say three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar sink in Bangladesh; 26 bodies recovered. </s> COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said Thursday.

Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims capsized in the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing.

The top official in Cox’s Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them.

Last week, a group of ethnic minority Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no man’s land at the countries’ border, the International Organization for Migration said. Satellite imagery analyzed by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze.

Most of Myanmar’s estimated 1 million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights.

Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. </s> COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Bangladesh's border guards on Thursday (Aug 31) recovered the bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children whose boat capsized, an official said, as they fled violence in Myanmar amid rising pressure on Bangladesh to shelter thousands of others marooned at its land borders.

Around 18,500 Rohingya Muslims, many sick and some with bullet wounds, have managed to slip into Bangladesh since Friday when a series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state led to a massive military crackdown.

Myanmar has evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists from the area, where ongoing clashes have so far killed at least 117 people, most of them Rohingya insurgents but also security officials.

On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River that separates the two countries as their boat overturned, said Ariful Islam, a commander with Bangladesh's border guards.

The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children had been recovered on Wednesday after their boat was fired on by Myanmar's Border Guard Police, Islam said.

Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back a total of 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country mainly by small wooden boats, though thousands of others have set up temporary camps along the porous land border between the countries. </s> Bodies of women and children are recovered after boats carrying Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River, officials say.

Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh, killing at least 26 people, according to officials.

The bodies of 15 women and 11 children were recovered in Cox's Bazar after the vessels, which carried an unknown number of Rohingya, sank in the Naf River on Wednesday, Bangladesh border guard commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam said on Thursday.

He added that it was unclear whether anyone was still missing, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The top official in Cox's Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them.

Officials in Bangladesh say growing numbers of Rohingya are trying to cross the Naf river that divides the two countries in rickety boats ill-equipped for the rough waters as they become increasingly desperate to escape the worst outbreak of violence in the restive Rakhine state in years.

READ MORE: Nearly 50,000 Rohingya flee violence in Myanmar

Residents and activists have accused soldiers of shooting indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children and carrying out arson attacks.

However, authorities in Myanmar say close to 100 people have been killed since Friday when armed men, reportedly from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), launched a pre-dawn raid on police outposts in the restive region.

Myanmar authorities say Rohingya "extremist terrorists" have been setting the fires during fighting with government troops, while Rohingya have blamed soldiers who have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings.

Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Friday, three UN sources said, according to Reuters news agency.

The violence comes amid reports of Buddhist vigilantes burning Rohingya villages in Myanmar, Reuters said.

Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said.

Satellite imagery analysed by US-based Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze.

READ MORE: \'Fire and destruction\' as Myanmar army targets Rohingya

Most of Myanmar's estimated one million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine state.

They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognise them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights.

Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. </s> Bangladeshi villagers help two elderly Rohingya women get down from a boat after crossing a canal at Shah Porir Deep, in Teknak, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said Thursday. Last week, a group of ethnic minority Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said Thursday.

Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing.

The top government official in Cox's Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them.

Last week, Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said. Satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze.

Most of Myanmar's estimated 1 million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which denies them citizenship and basic rights.

Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country.

Some Buddhists and Hindus have also fled the violence.

More than 400 Hindu residents of Rakhine state crossed into Bangladesh after being attacked by armed men, officials and survivors said.

Main Uddin, a government official in Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar, said the survivors reported that about 86 Hindus had been killed by armed groups in three villages since last Friday.

Survivors said Myanmar soldiers were everywhere and "armed people" were also burning houses and killing people.

Nirajan Rudro, a Hindu who fled to Bangladesh, told The Associated Press that masked men armed with guns, sticks and knives had attacked them and set fire to their houses.

Uddin said 412 Hindus are staying in a Hindu neighborhood near Rohingya camps in Ukhiya.

"They have been sheltered in an abandoned poultry farm there. Bangladeshi Hindus are helping them," he said. </s> A Rohingya man carrying his son and belongings walks through a broken road after crossing the Bangladeshi border at Shah Porir Deep, in Teknak, Bangladesh. (Photo: AP)

Cox’s Bazar, (Bangladesh): At least five children drowned when boats carrying Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar sank early on Wednesday, Bangladesh border guards told AFP.

Authorities said three to four boats had sunk at the mouth of the Naf river, which divides Bangladesh and Myanmar's violence-wracked Rakhine state, raising fears there could be many more casualties.

Scores of people have already been killed attempting to cross the Naf border river since a fresh upsurge in violence in Rakhine on August 25, many using small fishing boats unsuited to the rough coastal waters.

Border Guard Bangladesh officer Aloysius Sangma said three to four boats packed with Rohingya refugees had gone down early Wednesday.

"So far, the bodies of five male and female children have been found at different locations," he told AFP.

Local police chief Main Uddin said authorities were travelling to the spot to investigate.

More than 125,000 refugees have flooded across the border into Bangladesh.

Most are Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority that the government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar largely does not recognise as citizens. </s> COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said Thursday.

Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing.

The top government official in Cox’s Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them.

Last week, Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no man’s land at the countries’ border, the International Organization for Migration said. Satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze.

Most of Myanmar’s estimated 1 million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which denies them citizenship and basic rights.

Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country.

Some Buddhists and Hindus have also fled the violence.

More than 400 Hindu residents of Rakhine state crossed into Bangladesh after being attacked by armed men, officials and survivors said.

Main Uddin, a government official in Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar, said the survivors reported that about 86 Hindus had been killed by armed groups in three villages since last Friday.

Survivors said Myanmar soldiers were everywhere and “armed people” were also burning houses and killing people.

Nirajan Rudro, a Hindu who fled to Bangladesh, told The Associated Press that masked men armed with guns, sticks and knives had attacked them and set fire to their houses.

Uddin said 412 Hindus are staying in a Hindu neighborhood near Rohingya camps in Ukhiya.

 “They have been sheltered in an abandoned poultry farm there. Bangladeshi Hindus are helping them,” he said.

 ___

 Alam reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh. </s> In this Dec. 3, 2016 photo, members of Bangladesh Coast Guard walk down from a speedboat after patrolling in the Naf River to guard against Rohingya from Myanmar crossing over to Bangladesh in Teknaf, near Cox's Bazar, a southern coastal district about, 296 kilometers south of Dhaka, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: AP

Dozens are missing and feared drowned after a boat packed with Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar and trying to reach Bangladesh sank in a border river Monday, reports and a Bangladeshi fisherman said.

Thousands of Rohingya, a stateless ethnic minority, have arrived in Bangladesh after an outbreak of violence in western Myanmar, where the military is alleged to have committed mass rape and murder and burned villages.

A Bangladeshi fisherman said he had rescued one woman who told him her “overcrowded” boat had sunk in the Naf river after it was chased by a Myanmar Army speedboat.

“We heard a woman's desperate cry for help in the morning while we were fishing in the Naf. We quickly paddled to the spot and saw she was fighting to stay afloat,” fisherman Suman Das told AFP by phone.

“The woman told us that their boat was overcrowded with Rohingya villagers who tried to cross the river to enter Bangladesh.”

The woman did not know what had happened to the others and Das could not say how many people were on the boat.

But the private UNB news agency, quoting a Bangladeshi village councillor, said there were at least 31 Rohingya on board.

A Rohingya source told AFP by phone that the bodies of 13 women and children, two of whom had bullet wounds, had washed ashore in his village on Myanmar's side of the Naf.

This could not be independently confirmed, however, and Bangladesh police and border guards said they were not aware of the disaster.

An estimated 30,000 Rohingya have been forced to leave their homes since a bloody October crackdown by the Myanmar army in Rakhine state, where many of them live.

At least 10,000 have arrived in Bangladesh, the United Nations said last week, although Bangladesh says it has prevented large numbers from entering.

Myanmar has denied allegations of abuse, but has also banned foreign journalists and independent investigators from accessing the area to investigate.
Twenty-six bodies of women and children are recovered after three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar sink in the Naf River in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar District.