Insurgents claim responsibility for attack in northern Rakhine state, saying they are fighting ‘Burmese state-sponsored terrorism’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Rohingya Muslim have said they have “no other option” but to fight what they called Myanmar’s state-sponsored terrorism in order to defend their community. A wave of raids by the insurgents on security force posts on Aug. 25 sparked sweeping army counter-insurgency operations in the Muslim-majority north of the state that led to widespread violence and arson and an exodus of some 650,000 Rohingya villagers to neighbouring Bangladesh. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August when a series of insurgent raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the United Nations says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. On Sunday the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. The government did not identify the insurgents involved in the Friday attack on a vehicle taking someone to hospital but the military said in a statement they were "extremist Bengali terrorists ARSA". “A vehicle … was attacked by 20 insurgents from the mountain using homemade mines and small arms,” the government said, adding about 10 rebels were involved. A rebel spokesman confirmed his group had carried out the attack. Image copyright EPA Image caption Last year, officials accused Arsa militants of burning the Hindu village of Yebawkyaw and killing many of its inhabitants

A militant group from Myanmar's mostly Muslim Rohingya minority says it will keep fighting the government. The Yangon-based Frontier Myanmar magazine quoted a resident of a nearby village as saying sporadic gunfire had been heard at the time of the ambush. The area is largely off-limits to reporters. Bangladesh and Myanmar have been working on a plan to repatriate some of the 650,000 refugees, but it is unclear on what terms they could be allowed to return, and whether they would be resettled into camps.
ARSA insurgents, using small arms and homemade land mines, ambush a Burmese military convoy in the village of Turaing. Three members of Myanmar's security forces are reportedly wounded.