Nearly 5,000 civilians displaced by fighting in Rakhine state have taken refuge in the state capital, travelling 100 kilometres (60 miles) after camps near the conflict zone were too full to take them, refugees and officials told RFA.

The villagers huddling in Sittwe have fled a flare-up in the 20-month-old war between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine state’s northern townships and Paletwa in neighbouring Chin state.

The 5,000 are part of an estimated population of 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Buddhist monasteries and crowded camps in Rakhine after fleeing a war that has killed or injured hundreds of civilians.