In Myanmar, security forces have killed at least 26 people in response to attacks on police that have escalated violence in northern Rakhine State, which falls along its border with Bangladesh. <br/><br/>According to reports in state media military personnel and police reinforcements poured into the Muslim majority township of Maungdaw yesterday and clashed with groups of up to 300 men, armed with pistols, swords and knives.<br/><br/>Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that her government was exercising the rule of law in dealing with the attacks, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said today. Authorities had not yet confirmed who was behind the attacks, Suu Kyi said yesterday. The killings bring the total death toll in northern Rakhine state since Sunday to 39, including 13 security personnel.