Myanmar Conflict

Escalating violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in recent months may have spurred some Rohingya Muslims to cross into Bangladesh, a key refugee official said, although Dhaka insists it cannot accept more refugees from its war-torn neighbour.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned on Thursday recent attacks by Myanmar's military that reportedly killed scores of civilians in western Rakhine state.

More army personnel have crossed the border into Mizoram in the past two days as fighting continues between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta-regime.

At least 151 Myanmarese soldiers fled to Mizoram's Lawngtlai district after their camps in the neighbouring country were overrun by an armed ethnic group, an Assam Rifles officer said on Saturday.

The Manipur government has sought a detailed report from the Assam Rifles on how at least 718 Myanmar nationals - in just two days i.e. July 22 and 23 - "were allowed to enter India" without "proper travel documents".

A large group of suspected insurgents hiding in the hilly and forested India-Myanmar border in Manipur has allegedly entered the state, people familiar with the matter said.

At least 1,500 people are known to have been killed in year-long protests against the coup in Myanmar, with thousands more possibly killed in the armed conflict, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

The UN rights chief warned Tuesday of possible crimes against humanity in Myanmar, and said it seemed to be heading towards a massive conflict like the one ravaging Syria.

The world's longest Internet shutdown – affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones – has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region.

Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas.

Thirteen Myanmar police officers were killed in raids Friday by ethnic Rakhine rebels, the army said, in a brazen, co-ordinated attack on the country's Independence Day which adds a dangerous new dimension to conflict in the restive western state.

"Amber hunters" on a quest for a Jurassic Park-style discovery of dinosaur remains sift through mounds of the precious resin in Myanmar -- a lucrative trade that captivates palaeontologists but also fuels a decades-long conflict in the far north.

Bangladesh is racing to turn an uninhabited and muddy Bay of Bengal island into home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar, amid conflicting signals from top Bangladeshi officials about whether the refugees would end up being stranded there.

Bangladesh said on Tuesday it would complete the process of returning within two years many of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled a conflict in Myanmar, following a meeting of the neighbours.

A Myanmar beauty queen says she was stripped of her pageant title after posting a graphic video accusing Muslim Rohingya militants of driving communal violence in Rakhine state, a conflict fraught with controversy in the mainly Buddhist country.

Escalating violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in recent months may have spurred some Rohingya Muslims to cross into Bangladesh, a key refugee official said, although Dhaka insists it cannot accept more refugees from its war-torn neighbour.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned on Thursday recent attacks by Myanmar's military that reportedly killed scores of civilians in western Rakhine state.

More army personnel have crossed the border into Mizoram in the past two days as fighting continues between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta-regime.

At least 151 Myanmarese soldiers fled to Mizoram's Lawngtlai district after their camps in the neighbouring country were overrun by an armed ethnic group, an Assam Rifles officer said on Saturday.

The Manipur government has sought a detailed report from the Assam Rifles on how at least 718 Myanmar nationals - in just two days i.e. July 22 and 23 - "were allowed to enter India" without "proper travel documents".

A large group of suspected insurgents hiding in the hilly and forested India-Myanmar border in Manipur has allegedly entered the state, people familiar with the matter said.

At least 1,500 people are known to have been killed in year-long protests against the coup in Myanmar, with thousands more possibly killed in the armed conflict, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

The UN rights chief warned Tuesday of possible crimes against humanity in Myanmar, and said it seemed to be heading towards a massive conflict like the one ravaging Syria.

The world's longest Internet shutdown – affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones – has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region.

Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas.

Thirteen Myanmar police officers were killed in raids Friday by ethnic Rakhine rebels, the army said, in a brazen, co-ordinated attack on the country's Independence Day which adds a dangerous new dimension to conflict in the restive western state.

"Amber hunters" on a quest for a Jurassic Park-style discovery of dinosaur remains sift through mounds of the precious resin in Myanmar -- a lucrative trade that captivates palaeontologists but also fuels a decades-long conflict in the far north.

Bangladesh is racing to turn an uninhabited and muddy Bay of Bengal island into home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar, amid conflicting signals from top Bangladeshi officials about whether the refugees would end up being stranded there.

Bangladesh said on Tuesday it would complete the process of returning within two years many of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled a conflict in Myanmar, following a meeting of the neighbours.

A Myanmar beauty queen says she was stripped of her pageant title after posting a graphic video accusing Muslim Rohingya militants of driving communal violence in Rakhine state, a conflict fraught with controversy in the mainly Buddhist country.