Arakan News Agency
Myanmar has detained several police over a video that appears to show officers beating members of the Muslim Rohingya minority during a security operation.
The government said the incident, filmed by a police officer, happened in restive Arakan state in November.
The office of Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi named four officers who took part in the operation.
They include Zaw Myo Htike, who can be seen smoking as he films the video.
“Those who [were] initially identified were detained,” Ms Suu Kyi’s office said in a statement. “Further investigations are being carried out to expose other police officers who beat villagers in the operation.”
There have been repeated allegations of abuses against the minority in Arakan since a military counter-insurgency campaign was launched there in October.
Some have even said the state’s actions amount to ethnic cleansing., and Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, has faced international criticism.
The admission that security forces may have carried out abuses is an unusual development, as Burmese leaders have previously insisted they are following the rule of law.
Arakan state is closed to journalists and investigators, making it difficult to independently verify the allegations.
