New clashes in Rakhine displace 26,000: UN

Renewed fighting this week between Myanmar's military and an ethnic minority armed group has displaced more than 26,000 people in western Rakhine state, the United Nations said on Friday.

Ongoing clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the military "have resulted in the displacement of 26,175 people" across Rakhine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update. AA fighters launched attacks on security forces in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin state on Monday, ending a shaky ceasefire and opening another front as the military battles opponents in the north and east. Unocha said at least 11 people had been killed in military shelling of AA positions since Monday. On Thursday junta troops shelled the town of Pauktaw, 16 miles (25 kilometers) west of state capital Sittwe, and shot at it from helicopters after AA fighters briefly seized the police station, residents told AFP. The military took control of the town later in the day, and on Friday local media cited residents saying that around 50 people had been detained and an unknown number were feared dead. Unocha said 19,000 people had been displaced from Pauktaw. "Virtually all" roads and waterways connecting Rakhine townships have been blocked, Unocha said, adding most humanitarian activities in affected townships had been suspended.