Myanmar state media say 13 policemen were killed and nine injured in early morning attacks Friday on police outposts in Rakhine state by the insurgent Arakan Army.

The Arakan Army is a rebel group seeking autonomy for Rakhine state from Myanmar's central government. It has no links with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Muslim insurgent group whose similar attacks in 2017 sparked a bloody government counterinsurgency campaign against the area's Muslim Rohingya minority, driving more than 700,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

While the Muslim ARSA group has become virtually inactive, the Arakan Army has taken advantage of the area's instability to increase its military activities after training its guerrillas in regions controlled by other insurgent groups, including the Kachin in northern Myanmar.