Hundreds dead in Myanmar as the Rohingya crisis explodes again

via washingtonpost.com YANGON, Myanmar — Hundreds have died in western Myanmar in clashes between insurgents and security forces, a dramatic escalation of the Rohingya crisis that has haunted the country’s transition to democracy and tainted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s legacy.

The increasing death toll follows reports that tens of thousands more Rohingya Muslims have been displaced in the conflict.

In some of the worst fighting in decades, Myanmar’s army says 370 fighters tied to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have been killed since the group first moved on dozens of police posts in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 25. Fifteen members of Myanmar’s security forces and civil service and 14 non-Muslim civilians died in the attacks and ensuing clashes.

Though it emerged only a year ago with origins in the diaspora, ARSA claims it fights for the more than 1 million stateless Rohingya Muslims in Burma, also known as Myanmar. The government calls it a terrorist organization.

The Rohingya, most of whom reside in Rakhine state on the border with Bangladesh, are deeply unpopular in Burma, which is 90 percent Buddhist. The government insists they are immigrants from Bangladesh despite generational roots. Burma disputes the very term “Rohingya,” preferring “Bengali” or “Muslims in Rakhine state.” (ontinueReading

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Related: Nearly 60,000 have fled Myanmar violence into Bangladesh, says UN