Rohingya refugees storm border

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — About 1,000 ethnic Rohingya villagers from Myanmar forced their way Monday into Bangladesh after coming under fire from Myanmar soldiers, in fallout from violence unleashed last week when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

The Muslim villagers, who were seeking refuge from the ongoing violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, had been in a border no-man’s-land for two days. Bangladeshi border guards, who had provided them with food and water, on Monday sought to push them back to their own country.

A Bangladeshi local government representative, Jahangir Aziz, said when Myanmar troops fired their guns, the crowd ran back and broke through a Bangladesh barricade and cordon of 300-400 guards. He said they then scattered, with at least some making it to unofficial camps for unregistered refugees.

Rohingya leaders and intelligence officials said 8,000-9,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh since the violence broke out Thursday when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police posts.

Human rights groups and advocates for the Rohingya said the army retaliated by burning down villages and shooting civilians, forcing thousands to flee. The official death toll as of Sunday was 96 — most described by the government as “terrorists” — though the actual figure is likely to be higher.

The government blames Rohingya insurgents for the violence.

Both the government, in official statements, and its critics, in posts on social media often accompanied by video clips, said there was widespread burning of buildings and even whole neighborhoods in Maungdaw township in northern Rakhine on Sunday.

“Extremist terrorists blew out improvised bombs, set fire the villages and attacked the police outposts in Region-2 of Maungtaw yesterday from the morning to afternoon,” said an English-language statement issued by the Information Ministry on Monday.