Maj. Gen.Nyi Nyi Tun, vice chairman of the Myanmar’s military information committee, left, Maj. Gen. Soe Naing Oo, chairman of the Myanmar’s military information committee, center, and Brig. Zaw Min Tun, secretary of the Myanmar’s military information committee, attend a press conference at the Military Museum in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. (Aung Shine Oo/Associated Press)NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military announced Friday that the Arakan Army, a Buddhist rebel group in Rakhine state, has been classified a terrorist organization after mounting a flurry of recent attacks. Military officers said at a news conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, that leader Aung San Suu Kyi ordered security forces to launch the offensive against the Arakan Army. The Arakan Army, founded in 2009, is estimated to have several thousand well-armed and organized uniformed members, in contrast to the ragtag and virtually dormant Rohingya guerrillas.

Source: Washington Post January 19, 2019 00:00 UTC