Nearly 400 die as Myanmar army steps up crackdown on
Rohingya militants
The US has stepped in, calling on the Myanmar government
to respect humanitarian law. It has also condemned the recent attacks by
Rohingya. As villagers and healthcare workers flee from the affected areas,
others are trying to help those that remain.
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01 Sep 2017 01:20PM (Updated: 02 Sep 2017 02:30AM)
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· COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Nearly 400 people have died in
fighting that has rocked Myanmar's northwest for a week, new official data
show, making it probably the deadliest bout of violence to engulf the country's
Rohingya Muslim minority in decades.
About 38,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from
Myanmar, U.N.
sources said on Friday, a week after Rohingya insurgents
attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, prompting clashes and
a military counteroffensive.
The army says it is conducting clearance operations
against "extremist terrorists" and security forces have been told to
protect civilians. But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say a campaign of arson
and killings aims to force them out.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply
concerned" by reports of the use of excessive force during the army's
operations in Rakhine state, spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said in a statement on
Friday.
"(He) urges restraint and calm to avoid a
humanitarian catastrophe," Kaneko said.
"The secretary-general underlines the responsibility
of the government of Myanmar to provide security and assistance to all those in
need and to enable the United Nations and its partners to extend the
humanitarian support they are ready to provide," she said.
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The treatment of Myanmar's roughly 1.1 million Rohingya
is the biggest challenge facing national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by
some Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long
complained of persecution.
The clashes and ensuing army crackdown have killed about
370 Rohingya insurgents, 13 security forces, two government officials and 14
civilians, the Myanmar military said on Thursday.
By comparison, communal violence in 2012 in Sittwe, the
capital of Rakhine, led to the killing of nearly 200 people and the
displacement of about 140,000, most of them Rohingya.
The fighting is a dramatic escalation of a conflict that
has simmered since October, when similar but much smaller Rohingya attacks on
security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of
rights abuses.
Myanmar evacuated more than 11,700 "ethnic
residents" from the area affected by fighting, the army said, referring to
the non-Muslim population of northern Rakhine.
More than 150 Rohingya insurgents staged fresh attacks on
security forces on Thursday near villages occupied by Hindus, the state-run
Global New Light of Myanmar said, adding that about 700 members of such
families had been evacuated.
"Four of the terrorists were arrested, including one
13-year-old boy," it said, adding that security forces had arrested two
more men near a Maungdaw police outpost on suspicion of involvement in the
attacks.
About 20,000 more Rohingya trying to flee are stuck in no
man's land at the border, the U.N. sources said, as aid workers in Bangladesh
struggle to alleviate the sufferings of a sudden influx of thousands of hungry
and traumatized people.
While some Rohingya try to cross by land, others attempt
a perilous boat journey across the Naf River separating the two countries.
Bangladesh border guards found the bodies of 15 Rohingya
Muslims, 11 children among them, floating in the river on Friday, area
commander Lieutenant Colonel Ariful Islam told Reuters.
That takes to about 40 the total of Rohingya known to
have died by drowning.
Late on Friday, Bangladesh foreign ministry said it had
lodged a "strong protest" against violation of air space by Myanmar
helicopters on three days this week, including Friday, near the area where the
Rohingya are fleeing violence.
"These instances of incursion into Bangladesh air
space by Myanmar helicopters run contrary to the good neighbourly relations and
could lead to unwarranted situation," said the foreign ministry statement.
Suu Kyi spokesman Zaw Htay said h he was not aware of the
complaint but that there were channels in place for dialogue between the two
sides. If Myanmar receives the complaint from Bangladesh, it will respond, he
said.
A desperate escape - http://tmsnrt.rs/2pdGlig
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Additional reporting by
Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Bill
Trott)
