Myanmar soldiers in Maungdaw in Rakhine State (Photo: AFP/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar’s government has said it evacuated atleast 4,000 non-Muslim people from the northern state of Rakhine amid ongoingviolence in the area.
According to the government, the death toll from violence that recentlyerupted between the government’s military and Rohingya insurgents has climbedto 98 people, including 80 militants and 12 members of security forces.
The clashes forced thousands of Rohingya people, mostly women andchildren, to flee to Bangladesh. Statistics from Rohingya refugee camps inBangladesh showed about 2,000 people crossed into Bangladesh since August 25.
Previously, at least five policemen were killed in an attack byinsurgents on 24 police posts and a military outpost on August 24 in Rakhine. Theevent marked an escalation of the violence that has simmered in Rakhine sinceOctober 2016, when similar attacks killed nine policemen.
Rohingya people are not recognised as an ethnic minority group inMyanmar and are called Bengalis or illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. ManyRohingya people fled from Rakhine to Myanmar’s neighbouring countries after themilitary launched operations against insurgents who attacked border outposts.The attackers were accused of being members of the Rohingya SolidarityOrganisation, a small armed group operating since the 1980s.-VNA
