Myanmar court sentences one armed attacker on Rakhine police outpost to death

A Myanmar's court has handed out death sentence to one of the 14 captured armed men who violently attacked border outposts in northern Rakhine state in last October, Myanmar News Agency reported Tuesday.

Uruma, also named Mammud Nu and Ular, who is charged with leading a raid on the border outpost in Kotankauk of Rathedaung and killing one police officer and injuring two others, is the first so punished in connection with the incident, according to the Sittway district court.

The remaining 13 culprits are still under investigation.

Three border outposts in Maungtaw, Rakhine state were under violent attack by armed men on Oct. 9 last year in which nine policemen and five soldiers were killed.

The three outposts are Kyikanpyin, Kotankauk of Rathedaung and Ngakhuya Office in the state.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed in Maungtaw since Oct. 10, but the curfew hours have been reduced in Maungtaw since Feb 10 as peace and stability were improving in the region.

Following the incident, the government formed a 13-member investigation commission, led by Vice President U Myint Swe, to probe into the attack.

The commission released an interim report on Jan. 4, exposing that the armed attacks in Maungtaw were conducted by Havid Tuhar-led Aqa Mul Mujahidin linked with Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) operating in the region.

The commission members visited Maungtaw in December last year and this January for two rounds of field trip, inspecting the attacked villages and security camps. Enditem