Indonesian fishermen rescue Rohingya in seas off Aceh

Indonesian fishermen rescued 76 Rohingya Muslims from a boat stranded off Aceh province on Friday, police said, in the latest attempt by members of the persecuted ethnic group to flee Myanmar by sea.

The police chief of Bireuen regency in Aceh on the island of Sumatra, Riza Yulianto, said the group of eight children, 25 women and 43 men was brought ashore Friday afternoon. Several were in weak condition. It was unclear how long they had been at sea.

Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority has sparked a massive exodus of people over land into neighboring Bangladesh since August, though some have also tried to flee by boat.

An Indonesian fishing boat rescued a group of five Rohingya Muslims found in weak condition off westernmost Aceh province on April 6 after a 20-day voyage in which five other people died.

Just days before, Malaysian authorities intercepted a vessel carrying 56 people believed to be Rohingya refugees and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.

About 700,000 Rohingya have fled western Myanmar's Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh in the past seven months to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Myanmar's army.

Rohingya, treated as undesirables in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, used to flee by sea by the thousands each year until security in Myanmar was tightened after a surge of refugees in 2015 caused regional concern.