YANGON, Myanmar — Two journalists with the Reuters news agency have been arrested in Myanmar and accused of trying to illegally obtain official documents, the government said on Wednesday.

The two reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested Tuesday night in northern Yangon. The Ministry of Information said on Facebook that they had tried to obtain information relating to Rakhine State in western Myanmar. A campaign of killings, rape and arson carried out in Rakhine by Myanmar’s military has driven more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh since August.

The ministry said the reporters had been accused of violating Myanmar’s sweeping Official Secrets Act, which dates from 1923, when the country, also known as Burma, was under British rule. The two could face up to 14 years in prison. Two police officers were also charged, according to the ministry, which posted a photo of the reporters in handcuffs.

Stephen J. Adler, the president and editor in chief of Reuters, said the journalists had been “reporting on events of global importance in Myanmar” and called for their immediate release. “We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom,” he said in a statement.