Myanmar security forces fired mortars and machine guns at terrified Rohingya villagers fleeing northern Rakhine state for Bangladesh on Saturday, according to an AFP reporter and a border official at the scene, as clashes which have killed scores continued for a second day.

The fighting, concentrated around remote border villages, is between suspected Rohingya militants and Myanmar security forces, but is increasingly sweeping in civilians—from the Muslim minority as well as local Buddhists and Hindus.

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At least 71 people were killed Friday in Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine State when Rohingya Muslim insurgents launched simultaneous predawn attacks on 30 security outposts, police stations and an army base, according to the government’s latest update.

It earlier said clashes broke out in Maungdaw district of northern Rakhine around 1 a.m. when “extremist Bengali terrorists” attacked security outposts and police stations in 24 separate locations in the area, which is mostly populated by minority Rohingya Muslims.

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Clashes between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its offshoot, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), took place on Friday and Saturday, with six fighters from the original group killed.

The fighting between the two groups began about two weeks ago in the marshy farmlands around Maguindanao’s Datu Salibo town, regional police spokeswoman Tara Leah Cuyco said.

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Two Indian soldiers and three separatist fighters have been killed in a fierce gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Hundreds of Indian soldiers surrounded Awneera, a village about 50km south of the main city of Srinagar, on Saturday night following a tip-off about fighters in the area, AFP news agency reported.

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Seven people were killed in a clash on Thursday, August 10, as the government forces continue its operations to rescue the kidnap victims in the province of Sulu.

Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, Jr., Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said the clash took place around 4 a.m., Thursday, at Sitio Langhub in the village of Pang, Kalingalan Caluang town.

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