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>Armed men believed to be from the long-oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority launched a coordinated assault on three border police posts in the early hours Sunday, killing nine police, injuring five and making off with dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

Military personnel and police reinforcements have poured into the Muslim-majority township of Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, and have clashed with groups of up to 300 men, armed with pistols, swords and knives, according to official reports.

Human rights groups and advocates for the stateless Rohingya have voiced concern that the civilian population may be caught up in the authorities' violent response.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that her government was "exercising the rule of law" in dealing with the attacks, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Thursday.

Authorities had not yet confirmed who was behind the attacks, Suu Kyi said on Wednesday.

The military's official newspaper, Myawady, said that another 10 alleged attackers were killed, and a rifle was seized, in a clash on Tuesday morning at Kyetyoepyin village, Maungdaw Township.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, the military accused armed attackers of setting fire to 25 houses after an aborted attack on border police quarters in Kyikanpyin village, the site of one of Sunday's attacks.

The killings bring the total death toll in northern Rakhine State since Sunday to 39, including 13 security personnel.

The 26 alleged attackers reported killed include several who a local resident told Reuters were shot while unarmed and fleeing soldiers.

Campaign group Fortify Rights said on Wednesday it had received reports of extrajudicial killings in the area and called on Myanmar's government to "protect civilians regardless of religion or ethnicity."

Authorities have also detained four men, identified as local Muslims, who they allege were involved in the attacks.

The Rohingya bore the brunt of intercommunal clashes in Rakhine in 2012, in which more 100 people were killed. They make up most of the 125,000 people still living in displacement camps in Rakhine State and face severe restrictions on their movements.</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>Officials believe that members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority launched three separate attacks in the early hours of Sunday, in which dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were seized from border police.

Nine policemen were killed, one was missing and five were wounded. Eight attackers were killed and two captured, police said.

The Rohingya, who are mostly stateless and are subject to severe restrictions on their movements, make up the majority of the population in the northern part of Rakhine State.

Authorities in the township of Maungdaw on Sunday announced the extension of an existing order banning gatherings of five or more people and imposing a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

State media said the military - known as the Tatmadaw - had moved troops into the area by helicopter. Photographs on social media showed trucks full of infantry purportedly being deployed in the area.

No detailed information has been released about the operation in the area near a border guard office at Kyiganbyin village, where as many as 90 assailants seized weapons and fled into the hills.

"The Tatmadaw, the police force and the Ministry of Border Affairs are working together to ensure security and restore law and order,” said Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State government, who declined to disclose the size of the force sent to the area.

Human rights advocates raised concerns that civilians may be caught up in the sweep. Unverified reports posted online by advocates for the Rohingya suggested that a violent crackdown may be underway.

Ye Htut, administrator for Maungdaw, said he was not aware of the situation around Kyiganbyin village, which is under the control of security forces.

Muslim residents of Maungdaw town closed their shops amid the heightened security presence, he said.

“All of the security forces are deployed in Maungdaw, so we are not worried about security. Everything is fine,” Ye Htut said.

Matthew Smith, founder of campaign group Fortify Rights, said restrictions on the Muslim population already in place made northern Rakhine State "a police state, an apartheid state".

"Human rights violations in the context of counterinsurgency in northern Rakhine State are not new," Smith said.

"The authorities routinely accuse average Rohingya of involvement with armed extremists."

Sunday was the bloodiest day in the state since 2012, when more than 100 people were killed in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Some 125,000 people, the majority Rohingya, remain displaced.

Myanmar's state counselor and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi - who in August appointed former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to head an advisory commission into the situation in Rakhine State - discussed the attacks with security officials in an emergency meeting on Sunday, said foreign ministry official Kyaw Tin.

"The state counselor instructed us to handle this issue cautiously in accordance with the law," Kyaw Tin told reporters.

Officials in Bangladesh said Myanmar had closed the border after the attacks.

Myanmar police chief Zaw Win has said his force was investigating possible links between the attackers and rebel groups.

Zaw Win also mentioned big drugs busts by police in the area - some 6 million methamphetamine pills were seized in September - as a possible trigger for the attacks.</s>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special adviser on Myanmar called on civilians in troubled Rakhine state on Tuesday to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from responding to recent fighting that led to the deaths of security personnel as well as civilians.

Vijay Nambiar expressed concern at violent attacks by unidentified individuals and groups against border guards and security forces on Oct. 9 and subsequent fighting in three areas of Northern Rakhine, situated on Myanmar’s western coast, that resulted in the deaths.

Longstanding discrimination by majority Buddhists against Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine exploded into bloody violence in 2012. More than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, are still in displacement camps.

“At this delicate juncture,” Nambiar said, “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.”

He said authorities in the capital Naypyitaw had informed him “that firm instructions have been issued from the highest levels” for officials to take action within the law “to maintain peace and avoid escalation.”

The U.N. adviser said in a statement that he recognized “the prompt action and sober response of the security forces” during the latest violence.

He urged the security personnel “to exercise caution in the future to avoid any injuries or loss of innocent civilian lives, collateral damage to properties or any perception of harassment of the local population.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi said in her first speech to the U.N. General Assembly last month as Myanmar’s de facto leader that the government was “standing firm against the forces of prejudice and intolerance” and is “committed to a sustainable solution that will lead to peace, stability and development for all communities within the state.”

But Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by some human rights activists for not speaking out forcefully in support of the Rohingya, did not mention the group by name in her speech. It’s a contentious issue among Buddhists in Rakhine, who consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and customarily call them “Bengali.”</s>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>More than a dozen soldiers and police have been killed since Friday, state media reported, with troops in the city of Maungtaw attacked by about 300 men armed with knives, pistols and swords.

"The Special Adviser calls on the civilian population of the area to exercise maximum restraint and not be provoked into any kind of response by targeting other communities or religious groups," Vijay Nambiar, the special adviser to the secretary-general on Myanmar, said in a statement Wednesday.

"The recent clashes have not only caused grievous deaths and injuries including to infants and children, but also displaced tens of thousands of people across the three states," the UN statement said.

The attackers were not identified by the Myanmar government, but the UN said "ethnic armed organizations" had clashed with the country's security forces.

Rakhine State is home to a large population of Rohingya Muslims, a stateless ethnic minority that's faced discrimination and persecution for years. The Myanmar government's official position denies recognition of the term "Rohingya" and regards them as illegal Bengali migrants. found strong evidence that genocide has been committed against the minority. found strong evidence that genocide has been committed against the minority. A recent report from Yale Law School found strong evidence that genocide has been committed against the minority. Though the government says it was going after terrorists, Myanmar security forces have been accused of targeting Rohingyas. However, details are scant -- northern Rakhine state is like a "black hole information-wise," according to Penny Green, the director of the international state crime initiative at Queen Mary University of London. "It's very clear that violence has flared up very seriously in northern Rakhine state," she said. Thousands of Rohingyas have attempted the deadly journey to flee the region in recent years. The latest violence kicked off Friday, when a trio of border posts were attacked by militants, killing nine policeman, the state-run newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar reported. The government said attackers stole 62 assorted arms, 10,130 rounds of ammunition, one bayonet and 27 cartridges of bullets during the Friday attack, the newspaper added. On Tuesday, four soldiers and one armed attacker were killed in fighting in the village of Pyaungpit in Maungtaw, after the troops were attacked "by hundreds of men armed with pistols, swords and knives," the same newspaper said. In separate clashes on Monday, seven people were killed in a "firefight" between armed villagers and troops during a "clearance operation" in the nearby village of Taung Paing Nyar, state media said. The government said "swords and sticks" were found with the bodies. The apartheid you've never heard of The apartheid you've never heard of The government responded by sending a mission to help maintain peace and stability, but it also has been conducting what it calls "clearance operations" in order to find militants, including those responsible for the Friday attack, state media reports.
In a third day of fighting, an attack in Rakhine State kills four Myanmar soldiers.