400 dead after armed clashes, military says
TEKNAF, Bangladesh — Myanmar’s military said Friday that almost 400 people died in recent violence in the western state of Rakhine triggered by attacks on security forces by insurgents from the Rohingya ethnic minority.
Both sides exchanged charges of atrocities, as thousands of Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh.
The death toll, posted on the Facebook page of the country’s military commander, is a sharp increase over the previously reported number of just over 100. The statement said all but 29 of the 399 dead were insurgents, whom it described as terrorists.
The statement said there had been 90 armed clashes, including an initial 30 attacks by insurgents on Aug. 25, making the combat more extensive than previously announced.
Advocates for the Rohingya, an oppressed Muslim minority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, say security forces and vigilantes attacked and burned Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. Hundreds of civilians were killed, they say. They have posted photos, videos and details on social media that they say serve as evidence.
The government says it is the insurgents who have been burning homes and killing members of the Buddhist ethnic Rakhine community.
Long-standing tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012, forcing more than 100,000 Rohingya into displacement camps where many still live.
The insurgent group that claimed responsibility for last week’s attacks, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army — ARSA — said it acted to protect Rohingya communities.
It is nearly impossible to verify information issued by either the government or Rohingya sympathizers because the government has barred most journalists from the area, except on limited official guided tours.
A human rights group, Fortify Rights, said Friday that witnesses who escaped have supported accusations by Rohingya advocates that government security personnel and civilian vigilantes “committed mass killings of Rohingya Muslim men, women, and children in Chut Pyin village, Rathedaung township, on Aug. 27.”