Eight killed in surge of Rakhine violence

Myanmar's military said its troops killed six people and lost two soldiers in clashes with attackers in Rakhine state on Saturday, in the latest flare-up of violence in the crisis-hit region. Northern Rakhine, which is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority and borders Bangladesh, has been under military lockdown ever since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead last month.
Soldiers have killed several dozen people and arrested scores in their hunt for the attackers, who the government says are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists. The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar's new civilian government and raised questions about its ability to control the army.