Thousands of Rohingya flee for Bangladesh as fresh violence erupts in Myanmar

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh/YANGON (Reuters) - Thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar are trying to cross the border with Bangladesh, Bangladeshi security officials said yesterday, as fresh fighting erupted in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state.

The death toll from widespread attacks staged by Rohingya insurgents on Friday has climbed to 96, including nearly 80 insurgents and 12 members of the security forces, the government said, prompting it to evacuate staff and villagers from some areas.

The attacks marked a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since last October, when a similar offensive prompted a major military sweep beset by allegations of serious human rights abuses.

The treatment of approximately 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya in mainly Buddhist Myanmar has emerged as the biggest challenge for national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who late on Friday condemned the morning raids - in which insurgents wielding guns, sticks and homemade bombs assaulted 30 police stations and an army base.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been accused by some Western critics of not speaking out for the long-persecuted Muslim minority, and of defending the army’s counteroffensive after the October attacks.

Some 3,000 Rohingya arrived at the Naf river separating Myanmar and Bangladesh yesterday, Manzurul Hassan Khan, a Bangladeshi border guard commander, told Reuters.

“About 500 Rohingya, mostly women and children, spent the last night in a marshy area waiting to cross over,” said Khan. “We protected them the whole night. Today they went back.”

Reuters reporters saw hundreds of Rohingya crossing into Bangladesh near the border village of Gumdhum as gun shots could be heard from the Myanmar side. They could be seen squatting in a marshy area, hiding in the bushes from border guards.