‘Many’ dead as Myanmar military sinks boats carrying kidnapped troops: Arakan Army

[TomSea]

World News
October 27, 2019 / 6:39 AM / 2 days ago
‘Many’ dead as Myanmar military sinks boats carrying kidnapped troops: Arakan Army
Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar’s army sunk several boats carrying dozens of soldiers and police officers taken hostage by rebels in the restive western Rakhine state, the Arakan Army said on Sunday, adding that many had died.

The ethnic armed group abducted more than 50 people, most of them members of the security forces, a day earlier in the latest escalation of violence in the region where it has been fighting government troops for months.

The AA, which is demanding greater autonomy for Rakhine state, said troops opened fire on three vessels where the group were being held in Rathedaung township, sinking two and damaging one.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rakhine/many-dead-as-myanmar-military-sinks-boats-carrying-kidnapped-troops-arakan-army-idUSKBN1X60CU

Well, if the Government forces shot at the rebels boats carrying the government's own soldiers, what's there to say? I will try to find out more about this.  Some of the trouble in Myanmar has something to do with China, on the Eastern side. I'm not sure what this is about.

Same story, slight variations in details.

A Daring Helicopter Rescue After Rebels Capture a Ferry in Myanmar
The scale of the abduction suggests that the rebel group, the Arakan Army, is using increasingly brazen tactics to demand an independent state.

By Saw Nang and Mike Ives

    Oct. 28, 2019

MANDALAY, Myanmar — When the ferry pushed off from a dilapidated pier in western Myanmar, few of the passengers could have predicted how dangerous the journey would turn out.

Later on Saturday, along a riverbank dotted with mangroves, a rebel group abducted dozens of soldiers and government workers from the ferry at gunpoint. That drew a risky rescue attempt by army helicopters, which swooped in to try to free the hostages as their captors then spirited them away in three separate boats.

Gunfire erupted on both sides, and the army later said it had rescued 14 of the 58 hostages. The rebels said some were killed by helicopter fire, and they were keeping the survivors for “further investigation.”

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/world/asia/myanmar-ferry-hostages-arakan.html

Modesto man who fled Myanmar works 364 days a year. And he has no complaints
By Ken Carlson
October 28, 2019 10:29 AM

Zam, a refugee from Asia who resettled in Modesto, looks forward to the day when he has more family time with his wife and two sons.

For now, the young business owner works seven days a week running his sushi and hot wok franchises at supermarkets in Turlock and Tracy.

He says he took one day off last year — Christmas Day — when the supermarkets were closed.

Read more at: https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article236539758.html

So, per the story, he's a Christian.

[PeteS in CA]

Rakhine state borders Bangladesh. It is almost 2/3 Buddhist and about 1/3 Muslim. Myanmar's government has been oppressing non-Burmese ethnic groups and persecuting non-Buddhist groups. I'm going to guess that these rebels may be Muslim and akin to an ethnic group in Bangladesh (which is majority-Muslim).