More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have run from communal bloodshed in Myanmar in the last six weeks and numbers are again rising.
This week Bangladesh reported 4-5,000 civilians crossing the border each day after a brief lull in arrivals, with 10,000 more waiting at a frontier area.
Rohingya who have made it to Bangladesh allege the spurt in arrivals follows a redoubled campaign of intimidation and arson by Myanmar's army in parts of Rakhine which were still home to Muslim communities.
Rohingya women stand in a queue to have their children medically examined at Palangkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Source: AAP
Security forces "working for the rule of law" in Mi Chaung Zay in Buthidaung township helped villagers extinguish the fires which "broke out about 2:40am on October 4th", the post said.
Accusing "ARSA extremist terrorist" Einu, the statement said he had been "urging people to run" from Rohingya villages to Bangladesh.
The refugee crisis erupted after ARSA raids on Myanmar police posts on August 25.
Refugees who have made it to Bangladesh accuse Myanmar's army, flanked by mobs of ethnic Rakhine, of slaughtering them and burning their villages.
A veiled Rohingya woman walks at Palangkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Source: AAP
Rights groups say satellite data provides evidence of a systematic 'scorched earth' campaign targeting Rohingya villages, an act the UN says is tantamount to "ethnic cleansing".
But Myanmar's army has denied burning Rohingya villages and consistently accused militants of razing their own homes before fleeing to drum up global support for their cause.
The battery of competing claims is impossible to check independently because the conflict-wracked area of Rakhine is under an army lockdown.
30 wooden boats destroyed
Meanwhile Bangladesh has destroyed at least 30 wooden fishing boats to deter local captains from smuggling Rohingya refugees and illegal drugs across the border from Myanmar, officials said Thursday.
Border guards seized the vessels and arrested the captains after they were intercepted Tuesday evening bringing more than 700 Rohingya Muslims across the river.
The boatmen were also caught in possession of about 100,000 "yaba" pills, an illegal stimulant popular in Bangladesh, said a border guard official.
"These brokers (boatmen) were smuggling people," one border guard told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
"We were asked to destroy the 30 boats. These are hand-pulled vessels, not run by engines", he added, saying non-motorised boats were used to avoid detection.
Gangs of boat owners, crew and fishermen have been charging the fleeing Rohingya upwards of $250 for the two-hour journey that normally costs no more than $5.
Since the crisis began media and international NGOs have only been given highly controlled access on officially-steered visits.
Myanmar denies the Rohingya citizenship, describing them as "Bengali" interlopers.
It is a well received view inside Myanmar, where the public has shown little sympathy for the Rohingya, lavishing unexpected support on an army that once ruled the country with an iron fist.
