At least 95 Myanmar border guards, some of them wounded, have fled to Bangladesh over the last few days as fighting intensifies between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta regime, officials in Bangladesh said on Monday (Feb 5).

At least two people were killed in Bangladesh on Monday after mortar shells fired from Myanmar during clashes there landed across the border.

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The Arakan Army (AA), a Myanmar ethnic minority rebel group, has claimed taking control of a port town in a blow to the country’s military junta.

The armed group seized control of the town after more than two months of intense clashes with junta troops, they said late Wednesday, adding that it “completely controlled” Pauktaw, a town of 20,000 people close to a crucial deepwater port in the capital of western Rakhine state.

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Within 24 hours, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on targets in three countries — Iraq, Syria and Pakistan — and took the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks, triggering anger from its neighbors.

The developments have heightened concerns over the possibility of a wider Middle East conflict, as the Israel-Hamas war and daily Israeli bombardment of the Gaza enclave passes the 100-day mark.

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Myanmar’s ruling military confirmed on Friday that it had agreed to a “temporary ceasefire” with an alliance of ethnic minority armies at a China-mediated meeting.

“We have plans to further discuss and strengthen the ceasefire agreement,” junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told reporters.

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The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Friday evening seized Mantong Town, completing its takeover of Palaung Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State, TNLA officers confirmed on Saturday.

The town was seized after the TNLA – an ethnic Palaung army – routed the junta’s Infantry Battalion 130, which was based in Mantong.

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