Myanmar army probes alleged Rakhine atrocities

YANGON — Myanmar's military has said it is investigating its operations in violencewracked Rakhine state, where the United Nations has accused troops of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims.

In the last seven weeks, more than half a million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh, shocking the globe with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians before torching their villages to the ground.

The western region descended into chaos when Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar police posts on August 25, triggering the brutal military crackdown.

The latest UN probe accused Myanmar's military of leading a "systematic" effort to expel the maligned minority and block their return to the mainly Buddhist country.

The army, which has a long history of "scorchedearth" counter-insurgency campaigns, has steadfastly denied the charges — while also blocking independent access to the conflict zone. It is now preparing to publish results of its own internal investigation into the conflict, according to statements released Friday.

"An investigation team led by Defense Services Inspector General Lt-Gen Aye Win is inspecting security forces and military units (to see) whether they perform the assigned duties or not," said a statement from the army's "True News Information Team." It added: "When full information is received, the official press release will be released."

A separate post published on the army chief's Facebook page suggested troops would be cleared of abuses, saying: "it was found that all actions conformed to the law."

"A lot of witnesses were questioned. Investigations were carried out as to how such incidents happened, how many casualties there were and whether or not those incidents were in line with the law," the post on General Min Aung Hlaing's Facebook page said.