Soldiers moved into the town on Monday night, marking an intensification of violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State, where security forces have waged a campaign against a militant group called the Arakan Army. While Rakhine State gained global attention after the army drove about 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh in late 2017, the ethnic Rakhine are largely Buddhist like the majority of Myanmar's people. The military said in a statement there was "shooting back-and-forth” as insurgents attacked a military convoy approaching Mrauk U before retreating into houses. Christopher Caddy, 32, who lives in Manchester, posted a video on Twitter showed him and his fiancee wandering through a temple. “AA terrorists attacked a military convoy while the convoy was marching into Mrauk U town for security,” the statement said.

Source: bd News24 March 19, 2019 16:07 UTC