Tight security in Myanmar's Rakhine state following deadly clashes

Описание: (28 Aug 2017) Fear and tension remain high in Myanmar's strife-torn northern Rakhine State on Monday, following deadly clashes between Muslim Rohingya insurgents and security forces that has left at least 96 dead.
Journalists trying to reach Maungdaw, close to ongoing fighting, were turned back by police and soldiers.
Ssecurity forces were guarding the road and checking vehicles that were crammed with local Buddhists fleeing the conflict
The clashes began on Thursday night when a group calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, launched attacks on more than 25 locations.
They said they were acting in defence of Muslim Rohingya communities that had been brutalised by government forces.
The government responded by accusing the insurgents of "torching police outposts and monasteries, killing innocent people and planting mines."
ARSA, meanwhile, accused the army of using civilians as human shields.
The Rohingya have long faced severe discrimination and were the targets of violence in 2012 that killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people - predominantly Rohingya - from their homes to camps for the internally displaced, where most remain.
Most Buddhists consider them illegal immigrants from Balngladesh.
While many displaced Buddhists have fled towards other towns, thousands of Rohingya civilians have headed for the Bangladesh border.

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