Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Myanmar looks for more corpses as mass grave unearthed

By The Assam Tribune

YANGON, Sept 25 - Myanmar troops today searched for dozens of missing Hindu villagers feared dead after the discovery of a nearby mass grave of 28 corpses in Rakhine state, evidence of what the army says is a massacre by Rohingya Muslim militants.

Northern Rakhine was plunged into crisis after Rohingya militants raided police posts last month, unleashing an army crackdown that has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The vast majority � more than 430,000 � are Rohingya Muslims who fled across the border to Bangladesh from a military campaign the UN says likely amounts to ethnic cleansing.

But tens of thousands of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, and the region�s small population of Hindus, have also been internally displaced, saying they were attacked by Rohingya militants.

Yesterday, Myanmar�s army said it had discovered two mud pits filled with 28 Hindu corpses, including women and children, outside a village in northern Rakhine.

Hindu villagers from the area told AFP last week that Rohingya militants stormed into their communities on August 25, killing many and taking others into the forest.

�The security troops continue searching for remaining Hindu people around the places of the pits,� said a statement posted on army chief Min Aung Hlaing�s Facebook page.

Displaced Hindus from the area have shown AFP a list of 102 people from two villages who relatives and community leaders fear are dead. A police officer in northern Rakhine said authorities are trying to verify that figure as they look for more bodies. � AFP

Next Story