YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar government spokesman on Friday defended the deployment of more security forces to the border with Bangladesh, rejecting suspicions their aim is to drive 6,000 Rohingya refugees staying in a no man’s land into Bangladeshi territory. Spokesman Zaw Htay said the deployment was triggered by reports that Rohingya insurgents intended to launch an attack from the border region. Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Buddhist-dominated Myanmar to Bangladesh since late August, when Myanmar security forces began massive “clearance operations” after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army insurgent group –ARSA — attacked security posts. These are only actions taken against the terrorist groups based on information we received.”Gen. Mojibur Rahman of the Border Guard Bangladesh said Thursday his agency had protested to Myanmar about the deployment. The ministry asked for an immediate pullback of the security forces from the area, the agency reported.

Source: National Post March 02, 2018 11:01 UTC