13 Soldiers Killed In Independence Day Assaults

At least 13 Burmese police officers have been killed and nine injured following coordinated attacks on security outposts in the western Rakhine state, reports the Myanmar Times. 

The assaults on Friday targeted four police posts in the Buthidaung township, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

About 100 fighters each attacked the Khahtihla, Kyaungtaung and Ngamyinbaw police outposts, while another 50 hit the Gokepi outpost, the ministry said.

The operation was claimed by the Arakan Army, an armed group fighting for the mostly Buddhist Rakhine ethnicity. It is not affiliated with the Muslim Rohingya minority, who also inhabit the state. 

The military is now conducting clearance operations in the area, according to state media cited by Reuters. 

U Khin Maung Tin, the deputy minister of the State Counsellor's Office, and Lt. Gen. U Aung Win Oo, the chief of police, arrived in Rakhine on Sunday to monitor the situation. 

The Arakan Army is not among the groups with which the government declared a unilateral four-month cease-fire on Dec. 21.