The Myanmar Police Force has filed charges against four top leaders of the Arakan Army (AA) along with several residents of Kyaung Taung village under the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law amid ongoing fighting between government forces and the ethnic military in Rakhine state, RFA reported.

On July 4, authorities charged commander-in-chief Major General Tun Myat Naing, deputy commander Nyo Htun Aung, Brigadier General Kyaw Han, and spokesman Khine Thukha, for violating the law, and declared them fugitives, said Aye Nu Sein, an attorney based at the Rakhine State high Court in Sittwe.

They are accused of involvement in a deadly January assault on police outposts and roadside bomb attacks, and of inciting 13 villagers from Mrauk-U township to assist the AA in its clashes with Myanmar troops, she said.