Myanmar Crackdown: Exchange of Accusations amid Rise in Rakhine Violence
Local Editor
Thousands of panic-stricken Rohingya Muslims fled a fresh tide of violence in Rakhine, with Myanmar's leader and an armed group involved in clashes with government forces in the troubled state trading accusations of fueling the turmoil.
On Monday, Aung San Suu Kyi accused the so-called Rohingya fighters of burning down homes and using child soldiers amid the violence in Rakhine State, which is home to some 1.1 Rohingya Muslims.
Myanmar's State Counselor's Office, the government department run by Suu Kyi, posted a flurry of statements on its Facebook account, including photos of civilians allegedly shot dead by militants.
"Terrorists have been fighting security forces by using children at the frontline [and] setting fire [to] minority-ethnic villages," one of the statements read.
However, the so-called Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army [ARSA], an armed group which claims to be defending the Muslim minority, rejected the allegations and accused the government of inciting violence.
"While raiding Rohingya villages, the Burmese [Myanmar] brutal military soldiers bring along with them groups of Rakhine [Buddhist] extremists to attack Rohingya villagers, loot Rohingyas' properties and later burn down Rohingya houses," the group's Twitter account said on Monday.
At least 104 people have been killed in the fresh bout of violence involving Myanmar's military and the armed group.
Renewed violence erupted on August 25, when dozens of police and border outposts in Rakhine came under attack by the so-called Rohingya fighters.
Since Friday, thousands of Rohingya Muslims as well as Buddhists have fled the violence-torn region.
Some 2,000 Muslims have managed to cross into Bangladesh, according to the latest figures given by the makeshift refugee camps on the Bangladeshi side of the border.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
