Clashes took place in Buthidaung township in the northern part of Rakhine late on Thursday shortly after rebels from the Arakan Army, battling for greater autonomy for the region, met representatives of the military in the capital, Naypyitaw. Rakhine State came to global attention after the Myanmar army drove about 730,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh late in 2017, but ethnic Rakhine are largely Buddhist, like the majority of Myanmar’s people. He said the rebel Arakan Army had initiated the clashes and the incident would be investigated further. An Arakan Army spokesman did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment. Peace talks between the government and the Arakan Army rebels concluded on Thursday without significant agreement, though they signed a pact to continue talks.

Source: bd News24 March 22, 2019 12:22 UTC