UN envoys urge Myanmar to probe killings, arrests in Muslim-majority region
UN human rights experts have called on Myanmar to investigate allegations that security forces have killed unarmed civilians, burned villages and made arbitrary arrests in a Muslim-majority region where a crackdown has followed attacks on border police.
Aid agencies say up to 15,000 people, believed to be mostly Rohingya Muslims, have been displaced since armed men launched coordinated attacks on three posts along the northwestern border with Bangladesh on Oct. 9.
The government, which is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has characterised the response of security forces as a carefully targeted sweep of northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township in search of the perpetrators. Officials say security forces have killed 30 "attackers" and detained 53 suspects while searching for 400 suspected Rohingya militants, who seized dozens of weapons from border police.
