Ongoing Myanmar clashes leave 96 dead, including 6 civilians

Clashes in western Myanmar that began last week when insurgents launched attacks against police posts are continuing, with the government and advocates for the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority trading charges of killing civilians and burning down homes.

An announcement posted online by the office of the country's leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, said the death toll from the violence that started Thursday night had reached 96, mostly alleged Rohingya attackers but also 12 security personnel. The announcement was the first by the government to list civilians among the dead - six people identified as Hindu said to have been killed by the insurgents.

Myanmar is overwhelmingly Buddhist, but about 1 million Muslim Rohingya live in the northern part of Rakhine state, where the violence is taking place.