Rebels step up attacks on Myanmar government, thousands flee to India

The Arakan Army (AA), one of three rebel groups allied to fight government security forces, has seized outposts in the Rathedaung and Minbya areas of western Myanmar's Rakhine state. "We have captured some outposts and fighting is continuing in some other places," AA spokesman Khine Thu Kha told Reuters on November 13.

Fighters from the Ta'ang National Liberation Army ethnic armed group at a checkpoint in Namhkam town, Shan state on November 10.

Rathedaung residents reported hearing gunshots before dawn on 13 November, followed by hours of continuous shelling. The military blocked access to the area and reinforced its presence at government buildings.

In Chin state, which borders India, clashes also broke out and insurgents attacked two military posts. About 5,000 people have fled from Myanmar to the Indian state of Mizoram to escape the fighting, according to James Lalrinchhana, an official of a Myanmar border district.

Since late October, three ethnic rebel groups have launched coordinated attacks against government forces. The offensive began in northeastern Shan State, capturing several towns and more than 100 outposts near the Chinese border.

A spokesman for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), one of three rebel groups, said on November 13 that it had captured the town of Kunlong in Shan State, but government spokesman Zaw Min Tun said troops had left Kunlong in a "strategic retreat," according to AFP.

Urban attacks also took place in the central Sagaing region (west of Shan state), while fighting in Kayah state saw a fighter jet crash at the weekend. Rebels claimed to have shot it down, but the Myanmar military said the crash was caused by a technical fault.

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