YANGON (Reuters) - Eight people died and 36 were arrested in clashes between the Myanmar army and what the government believes are Rohingya Muslim militants in northern Rakhine State, state media said on Sunday, in the largest escalation of the month-old conflict yet.

A police truck passes by a Rohingya village outside Maungdaw October 26, 2016. Picture taken October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Skirmishes took place throughout Saturday in villages in the north of Rakhine, leaving one officer and one soldier dead. Six bodies of attackers were recovered in the aftermath, while 36 other people believed to be involved were arrested.

About 60 attackers armed with guns, knives and spears ambushed government troops on Saturday morning, the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar said. The army returned fire, but at one point asked for army choppers to reinforce because its troops were outnumbered, the paper said.

Soldiers have poured into northern Rakhine, close to the border with Bangladesh, since Oct. 9, after an insurgent group of Rohingyas that the government believes has links to Islamists overseas launched coordinated attacks on several border posts.

The military has blocked access to the area for journalists and aid workers. Residents and human rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes.

The government and the army have rejected the

accusations, saying they were conducting the “clearance operation” in the villages in accordance with the rule of law.

The troops at one point were shot at by about 500 men, state media said. Ye Naing, director of the Ministry of Information, contacted by Reuters on Sunday, said the insurgents were hiding among the villagers and not all of the 500 people were militants.

Security forces recovered a weapon and ammunition similar to arms taken away by the attackers on Oct. 9, state media reported.

The violence in recent weeks is the most serious to hit Rakhine since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012.

Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are the majority in northern Rakhine but they are denied citizenship, with many majority Buddhists regarding them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. They face severe travel restrictions.</s>YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s government on Sunday 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.

The fighting, reported in an Information Ministry statement, comes as human rights groups have been accusing Myanmar’s army of abuses against civilians of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, especially since last month’s attacks. Recent reports accuse soldiers of killing, raping and burning the homes of the country’s long-persecuted Rohingya.

The 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 were killed, 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 Rohingya since violent intercommunal conflict erupted in 2012.

More than 100,000 Rohingya are still in squalid camps for the internally displaced after being driven from their homes in 2012. Although many have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are widely regarded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and the government denies citizenship to most of the million or so Rohingya.

On Friday, the U.N.’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict called on Myanmar to investigate allegations of sexual assault in northern Rakhine state. Zainab Hawa Bangura said it was essential for the government to allow humanitarian access to the area to provide support for the survivors.

The Information Ministry statement said that the attackers set fire to a village as they retreated. However, human rights groups have been accusing government forces of burning down Rohingya villages.

The statement said troops arrested 36 men believed to be among Saturday’s attackers.

Independent confirmation of the events is difficult, because the area is remote and the government discourages access. There has been no credible description of what, if any, organized force has been fighting against the government.</s>As many as 500 men ambushed troops as they tried to carry out "clearance operations" in Maungtaw and Yathedaung townships near the border with Bangladesh, according to a government statement.

After forces repelled them with gunfire, six attackers were found dead and 36 men were arrested, the statement said.

Rakhine State is home to a large population of Rohingya Muslims, a stateless ethnic minority that's faced discrimination and persecution for years.

Myanmar, a Buddhist majority country, officially denies recognition of the term "Rohingya" and regards them as illegal Bengali migrants.

Myanmar security forces have been accused of targeting Rohingyas, but officials say it is targeting insurgents in "clearance operations." Human Rights Watch said Sunday that satellite images taken in October and November showed that 430 homes in three Rohingya villages had been destroyed by fire.
• The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state thought to number between 800,000 and one million.
• Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country.
• Much of this is rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh.
• Though many Rohingya have only known life in Myanmar, they are widely viewed as intruders from across the border.
• According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education, and employment.
• They are denied land and property rights and ownership, and land on which they live can be taken away at any given time. "New satellite images not only confirm the widespread destruction of Rohingya villages but show that it was even greater than we first thought," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The group said that the destruction took place following deadly attacks on border guard posts on October 9 that the Myanmar government said was carried out by a Rohingya group. HRW says it's not clear who was responsible. "The authorities need to allow the UN, the media, and rights monitors unfettered access into the area to determine what happened and what needs to be done," Adams said. In October, the UN called for "maximum restraint" after a spate of violent attacks on security forces near the city of Maungtaw. The apartheid you've never heard of The apartheid you've never heard of In separate statement Sunday, the ministry said armed attackers ambushed a convoy of border guards, policemen and government officials in the same state. The attackers set off an improvised explosive device as the convoy approached the bridge and advanced, but border guards repelled the men, forcing them to retreat, the statement said. No one was injured in the attack, but a vehicle was damaged.</s>The weekend's killings in restive Rakhine state have essentially destroyed any hopes for a swift resolution to the fighting and a gradual restoration of communal ties, observers and diplomats say.

Soldiers have poured into the Maungdaw area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh in the north of Rakhine, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 in which nine police officers were killed.

Security forces have locked down the area, where the vast majority are Rohingya Muslims - shutting out aid workers and independent observers - and conducted sweeps of villages.

Skirmishes took place throughout the weekend with state media reporting casualties sustained both on Saturday and Sunday. The total death toll from the weekend was unclear, but included at least 28 alleged attackers and two soldiers.

This has increased the number of casualties since Oct.9 to more than 60 for the suspected Rohingya Muslim attackers and 17 for the security forces, according to a Reuters estimate based on reports by state-owned media.

The violence is the most serious to hit Rakhine since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012.

Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are the majority in northern Rakhine but they are denied citizenship, with many Buddhists regarding them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. They face severe travel restrictions.

Residents and human rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes in the recent violence.

Satellite images showed a widespread destruction of Rohingya villages, including some 430 homes that have been burnt down, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday, adding the destruction was worse than initially feared.

The government and the army reject the accusations, saying they were conducting "clearance operation" in the villages in accordance with the rule of law. They have blamed the "violent attackers" for setting fires to homes.

On Sunday, the military killed at least 19 people after coming under attack from a group wielding machetes and wooden clubs, the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar said.

On Saturday, the army killed six people and called in helicopters to reinforce, the paper said.

Three more bodies of suspected attackers were found "in the aftermath of the clearance operation", it said.

Rohingya rights advocates have spread online video clips showing what they claimed were civilian casualties of the attacks, calling on the international community to investigate.

Because access for independent journalists to the area has been cut, Reuters could not independently verify either the government accounts or the video clips.</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.</s>BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s government says 34 people were killed after they attacked government troops in western Rakhine state over the weekend, but villagers belonging to the Muslim Rohingya minority say the victims were unarmed civilians.

The government has been conducting counterinsurgency operations since nine police officers were killed in attacks last month on guard posts along the border with Bangladesh generally blamed on Muslim insurgents. Tensions have been high in Rakhine since fighting in 2012 between Buddhists and Muslims.

The government said in a statement Monday that 28 people described as violent attackers were killed on Sunday. An earlier statement said six attackers died on Saturday, in addition to two government soldiers.

Human rights groups accuse the army of abuses against the Rohingya minority, including killings, rapes and burning of homes.</s>YANGON: Hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages in western Myanmar have been torched, according to new satellite images released on Sunday as fresh fighting flared in the strife-torn region.

Northern Rakhine, which is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority and borders Bangladesh, has been under military lockdown ever since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead last month.

Soldiers have killed several dozen people and arrested scores in their hunt for the attackers, who the government says are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists.

Fresh fighting flared on Saturday with two soldiers and six attackers killed, according to the military who said they brought in helicopter gunships to repel an ambush.

The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar’s new civilian government and raised questions about its ability to control its military.

Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

New satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show what the group said was evidence of mass arson attacks against Rohingya villages.

Their analysis showed more than 400 buildings torched in three Rohingya villages where the fighting has been taking place.

The group said active fires and burn scars showed that most of the destruction was caused by arson. The latest images were taken on 10 November.

Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said the new photos showed “widespread destruction” that was “greater than we first thought”.

“Burmese authorities should promptly establish a UN-assisted investigation as a first step toward ensuring justice and security for the victims,” he said in a statement.

The resurgence of violence in western Rakhine has deepened and complicated a crisis that already posed a critical challenge to the new administration led by democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

The state has sizzled with religious tension ever since waves of violence between the majority Buddhist population and the Muslim Rohingya left more than 200 dead in 2012.

More than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingya, were pushed into displacement camps by the bloodshed and have languished there ever since.

Rights groups say they face apartheid-like restrictions on movement and have repeatedly called on Suu Kyi to carve out a solution.

But Buddhist nationalists at home viciously oppose any move to grant them citizenship, claiming the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite their long roots in the country.

The military and government have rejected allegations that troops have burned Rohingya villages, accusing insurgents of lighting the fires.
Eight people are killed and 36 are arrested in clashes between the Myanmar Army and what are believed to be Rohingya insurgents in Rakhine State.