Border police in Maungdaw opened fire on a “suspicious group of people” who they say were sneaking up on their outpost on Monday, according to a government announcement.
Burmese state media reported that the group retreated into the darkness after being fired upon. The following morning, the border guards discovered the body of a man with a gunshot wound on his chest close to the outpost perimeter.
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Meanwhile, the Information Committee of the State Counsellor’s Office has announced that border guards recently raided the village of Thekan in Buthidaung Township, where they detained 10 men, including 61-year-old Abdul Kadi, suspected in connection with deadly attacks on border outposts in Maungdaw last month.
Inter-religious tensions between Buddhists and Muslims have been high in restive Arakan State, fuelled by the clashes last month between mobs, believed to be ethnic Rohingya militants, and security officers near the Burma-Bangladesh border.