Arakan Army insurgents killed nine Myanmar police in the latest attack in the country’s western Rakhine State, a local official said Sunday, as clashes threaten to engulf a large part of the troubled region.

Villagers heard gunfire as fighters from the armed group, which recruits from the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group, raided a police post in the village of Yoe Ta Yoke late on Saturday night.

The village’s administrator San Aung Thein confirmed nine police were killed by the Arakan Army there, but said he did not have additional details about the attack.

Reuters was unable to reach police officials for comment.

The insurgent Arakan Army killed 13 police in a similar attack farther north in January and has frequently clashed with Myanmar security forces since December.

Myanmar’s leaders vowed to crush the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy for Rakhine, but clashes have spread to new areas, displacing more than 5,000 people in all. Authorities have declared large parts of the north of the state off-limits to most aid agencies.

In 2017, attacks on security posts by insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority provoked a military crackdown in the north of the state. U.N. agencies say more than 730,000 people fled into camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.

Saturday night’s attack took place about 50 km (31 miles) north of the Rakhine state capital Sittwe, along the main road connecting the city with the rest of Myanmar.

A villager in his 50s told Reuters that two policemen stationed at the post survived the attack, which took place shortly after 11 p.m. local time.

“The battle went on for about 20 minutes,” said the villager, who asked not to be named. “I was in village at that time and I heard gun shots, but the villagers didn’t run away.” </s> Myanmar’s Information Ministry says nine policemen were killed in an attack in the western state of Rakhine by the increasingly active Arakan Army rebel group.

The ministry’s website said 60 Arakan Army insurgents on Saturday night attacked the police post, which was safeguarding question and answer sheets from the national high school matriculation examination.

The Arakan Army, which is aligned with Rakhine’s Buddhist population, seeks autonomy for the region. Rakhine is better known as the site of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military against the Muslim Rohingya minority, causing more than 700,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Attacks on police by Rohingya insurgents triggered the crackdown.

The government declared the Arakan Army a terrorist organization after it killed 13 police officers and wounded nine in Jan. 4 attacks. </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> Bodies of policemen killed in an attack at the Yoe Ta Yoke police station.

YANGON: Arakan Army insurgents killed nine Myanmar policemen in the latest attack in the country's western Rakhine State, the government said yesterday, as clashes threaten to engulf a large part of the troubled region.

Villagers heard gunfire as fighters from the armed group, which recruits from the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group, raided a police post in the village of Yoe Ta Yoke late on Saturday night.

The Myanmar Ministry of Information said on its Facebook page that nine policemen, all of them recruits from the village, were confirmed dead and one other was still missing.

"Around 60 members of the AA terrorist group attacked using small and large weapons," the statement said.

Saturday night's attack took place about 50km north of the Rakhine state capital Sittwe, along the main road connecting the city with the rest of Myanmar.

A villager in his 50s told Reuters that two policemen stationed at the post survived the attack, which took place shortly after 11 pm local time.

"The battle went on for about 20 minutes," said the villager, who asked not to be named. "I was in the village at that time and I heard gun shots, but the villagers didn't run away."

The insurgent Arakan Army killed 13 policemen in a similar attack further north in January and has frequently clashed with Myanmar security forces since December.

Myanmar's leaders vowed to crush the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy for Rakhine, but clashes have spread to new areas, displacing more than 5,000 people.

Authorities have declared large parts of the north of the state off-limits to most aid agencies.

In 2017, attacks on security posts by insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority provoked a military crackdown in the state. </s> YANGON (Reuters) - Arakan Army insurgents killed nine Myanmar police in the latest attack in the country’s western Rakhine State, the government said on Sunday, as clashes threaten to engulf a large part of the troubled region.

Villagers heard gunfire as fighters from the armed group, which recruits from the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group, raided a police post in the village of Yoe Ta Yoke late on Saturday night.

The Myanmar Ministry of Information said on its Facebook page that nine police, all of them recruits from nearby the village, were confirmed dead and one other was still missing on Sunday.

“Around 60 members of the AA terrorist group attacked using small and large weapons,” the statement said.

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.

Myanmar’s leaders vowed to crush the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy for Rakhine, but clashes have spread to new areas, displacing more than 5,000 people in all. Authorities have declared large parts of the north of the state off-limits to most aid agencies.

In 2017, attacks on security posts by insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority provoked a military crackdown in the north of the state. U.N. agencies say more than 730,000 people fled into camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.

Saturday night’s attack took place about 50 km (31 miles) north of the Rakhine state capital Sittwe, along the main road connecting the city with the rest of Myanmar.

A villager in his fifties told Reuters that two policemen stationed at the post survived the attack, which took place shortly after 11 p.m.

“The battle went on for about 20 minutes,” said the villager, who asked not to be named. “I was in village at that time and I heard gun shots, but the villagers didn’t run away.”

Myanmar’s military said in a separate statement on Sunday that troops clashed on Saturday with about 200 men from the Arakan Army at a different location, along Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh. </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> Arakan Army insurgents killed nine Myanmar police in the latest attack in the country’s western Rakhine State, the government said on Sunday, as clashes threaten to engulf a large part of the troubled region. </s> YANGON
• Buddhist Rakhine insurgents killed 13 policemen and injured nine in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state yesterday as the country marked Independence Day.

Fighting surged again in the state early last month between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army, which wants more autonomy for the Buddhist ethnic Rakhine minority.

The restive western state is also where a military-led crackdown in 2017 prompted hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The separate conflict between the military and Arakan Army rebels forced 2,500 civilians from their homes by the end of last year, according to the United Nations.

The official Myanmar News Agency said four police posts in the Buthidaung area in northern Rakhine came under attack from hundreds of Arakan Army fighters after daybreak yesterday. Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured as police were forced to abandon two of the posts, it said, adding that the military was now conducting a "clearance" of the area.

Myanmar military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said earlier that the insurgents had hit police outposts in a rugged region near the border with Bangladesh. "These police posts are there to protect the national races in the area so (Arakan Army rebels) shouldn't attack them," he said, referring to mostly Buddhist ethnic groups in the area who are, unlike Rohingya Muslims, considered Myanmar citizens.

Arakan Army spokesman Khine Thu Kha confirmed the assault and said the rebels later retrieved the bodies of seven "enemies". At least 12 members of the security forces detained in the fighting were later freed.

He said the attacks were in response to a military offensive against the Arakan Army in recent weeks that had also targeted civilians. The military last month announced a four-month halt to fighting in the north and north-east to kick-start peace talks with armed groups seeking ethnic autonomy, but that announcement excluded Rakhine state. </s> YANGON (Reuters) - Rakhine insurgents killed 13 policemen and injured nine in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on Friday as the country marked Independence Day, the official news agency said.

Fighting resurged in Rakhine state in early December between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army, which wants greater autonomy for Rakhine, where the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group makes up the majority. The Arakan Army does not cite religion as a factor in its insurgency.

It was also in the restive western state that a military-led crackdown in 2017, following attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents, prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee westwards to neighboring Bangladesh.

The separate conflict between the military and Arakan Army rebels forced 2,500 civilians from their homes by the end of last year, according to the United Nations.

The Arakan Army says it has been fighting for nearly a decade for self-determination in “the land of Arakan,” another name for Rakhine. An independent kingdom ruled in the coastal area until the 18th century.

The Arakan Army is one of multiple armed groups fighting in the name of ethnic minorities in the rugged borderlands of Myanmar, a country once known as Burma where around 90 percent of people are Buddhists.

The official Myanmar News Agency said four police posts in the Buthidaung area in northern Rakhine came under attack from hundreds of Arakan Army fighters after daybreak on Friday.

Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured as police were forced to abandon two of the posts, it said, adding that the military was now conducting a “clearance” of the area.

Myanmar military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the insurgents had hit police outposts near the border with Bangladesh.

“These police posts are there to protect the national races in the area so (Arakan Army rebels) shouldn’t attack them,” Zaw Min Tun said, referring to mostly Buddhist ethnic groups in the area who are, unlike Rohingya Muslims, considered Myanmar citizens.

Arakan Army spokesman Khine Thu Kha confirmed the assault and said rebels later retrieved the corpses of seven “enemies”.

He said later that rebels had freed at least 12 members of the security forces it detained in the fighting.

The attacks, he added, came in response to a Myanmar military offensive against the Arakan Army in recent weeks that had also targeted civilians. The military has denied targeting civilians.

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

The Myanmar police force said on Saturday it had opened cases against those involved in Friday’s attack under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law and a weapons law.

“This is a carefully planned premeditated attack to harm the lives and property of the people and to further aggravate the instability in the Rakhine State,” the English-language Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Saturday.

Friday’s violence erupted shortly after the national flag was raised across the southeast Asian country to mark 71 years since independence from Britain, but the Arakan Army spokesman denied any connection between the attacks and the anniversary.

“We are not independent yet. Today is not our Independence Day,” Khine Thu Kha said.

Last August, a U.N. report accused the Myanmar military of mass killings and rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent” in 2017 in an operation that drove more than 700,000 of them to flee to Bangladesh, according to U.N. agencies.

Myanmar has denied the charges, saying its military launched a counter-insurgency operation after attacks on security posts by Muslim militants.
Rakhine insurgents of the Arakan Army attack a police post in a village in Rakhine State, killing nine policemen. All of the victims were local recruits from the village.