Arakan News Agency
A senior military official yesterday defended security forces’ use of lethal force in Rakhine State, saying recent killings were an appropriate response in cases where they have encountered weapons-wielding hostiles.
Colonel Zaw Min Tun of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief was speaking at a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw to address the coordinated October 9 assault on Myanmar Border Police posts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships and the ongoing manhunt for the perpetrators that has followed.
“Their attacks would seriously impact regional peace and stability, and the rule of law … Thus, we have no choice but to shoot them.”
All told, 30 “attackers”, including two women, have been killed by security forces, said Major General Aung Soe, deputy minister for home affairs. Casualties have also included five military members. Authorities have so far detained 12 suspected militants, including two men arrested across the border and transferred into custody by Bangladesh, according to Maj Gen Aung Soe.
Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships – where the attacks on three Border Guard Police took place – as well as Buthidaung township have been designated “operational areas” for the military. Section 144 has also been invoked for the region, banning all forms of public assembly.
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last week pledged to handle the situation in Rakhine State “fairly” and in accordance with the rule of law, but a group of 16 Rohingya advocacy groups released a statement on October 16 that alleged authorities’ security crackdown has been rife with human rights abuses that amounted to “crimes against humanity”.
“Since 9 October, under the pretext of looking for attackers, the Myanmar military and police forces have been indiscriminately killing the Rohingya, torching and plundering their homes and villages,” read a joint statement from the groups. “Two mass graves were found and about 100 Rohingya civilians were extra-judicially killed that included old men, women and children.”
The government has sought to tightly control the flow of information coming out of Rakhine State, fearing that the spread of unchecked rumours could lead to the kind of inter-religious violence that wracked the state in 2012.
