YANGON: Suspected ethnic Rakhine rebels disguised as a sports team stormed a bus in rural Myanmar and took 31 hostages – mostly off-duty firefighters and construction workers – authorities said Sunday. The state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar said the bus – travelling to the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe – was flagged down by a man dressed in civilian attire before 18 rebels in sportswear emerged from the forest and ordered the passengers off at gunpoint. The Arakan Army, which is fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, could not immediately be reached for comment. Myanmar’s army has deployed thousands of troops to the state to try to crush the rebels. Rakhine state was also the site of a deadly crackdown that in Aug 2017 drove some 740,000 minority Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh.

Source: New Strait Times October 13, 2019 09:00 UTC