A powerful ethnic armed group in Myanmar said on Sunday it had seized control of a town in western Rakhine state after weeks of fighting, denying accusations that that during the offensive it carried out attacks against members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Hin Thu Kha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army (named after Rakhine State, formerly known as Arakan), said its troops had captured the town of Butidaw near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh - another military defeat field for the ruling junta, which is fighting several opposition groups on several fronts.
"We took over all the bases in Buttidaw, and yesterday we also took over the city," said Hin Thu Kha in a telephone conversation with a Reuters journalist.
A number of Rohingya rights activists have accused the Arakan Army of targeting the Muslim community during the assault on Buthidau and surrounding areas, forcing many of them to flee for safety. .
Reuters cannot independently verify the information. A spokesman for the military junta did not return a call for comment.
For decades, the Rohingya have been persecuted in Myanmar, where Buddhism is the leading religion. After fleeing a military junta-led crackdown in 2017, nearly one million of them live in an overcrowded refugee camp in the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar near the border, Reuters notes.