UNITED NATIONS – A United Nations (UN) official yesterday said he is “horrified” by credible reports that at least 35 civilians were killed and their bodies burned in Myanmar, and demanded for the government launch an investigation.
Two workers for non-profit group Save the Children remain missing after their vehicle was among several attacked and burned during the incident in the eastern Kayah state.
A monitoring group and local media have blamed the attack on junta troops.
“I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country,” UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths said in a statement.
He called for “a thorough and transparent investigation”.
Myanmar has been in chaos since a February coup, with more than 1,300 individuals killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.
People’s Defence Forces (PDF) have sprung up across the country to fight the junta, and have drawn the military into a bloody stalemate of clashes and reprisals.
On Saturday, photos appeared on social media purporting to show two burned-out trucks and a car on a highway in the Hpruso township, Kayah, with the charred remains of bodies inside.
A member of a local PDF group said its fighters had found the vehicles on Saturday morning after hearing the military had stopped several vehicles in Hpruso after clashes with its fighters nearby on December 24.
“When we went to check in the area this morning, we found dead bodies burnt in two trucks. We found 27 dead bodies,” the member said on Saturday.
“We found 27 skulls,” said another witness who did not want to be named, adding that there were other dead bodies that could not be counted.
Save the Children said later on Saturday that two of its Myanmar staff had been “caught up” in the incident and are missing.
The two had been travelling home after carrying out humanitarian work in the region, the charity said in a statement, adding that it has since suspended its work in several regions.
Myanmar’s junta previously said its troops had been attacked in Hpruso on December 24 after attempting to stop seven cars driving in a “suspicious way”.
Troops had killed a number of people in the following clash, spokesman Zaw Min Tun said without giving details.
The Myanmar Witness monitor said it had confirmed local media reports and witness accounts from local fighters that 35 individuals including children and women were burnt and killed by the military in the Hpruso township on December 24.
Satellite data also showed a fire had occurred around 1pm that day in Hpruso, it said.
Reports surrounding the clash are unable to be confirmed, but AFP digital verification reporters said the images purporting to show the incident had not appeared online before the evening on December 24.
PDF groups have surprised the army with their effectiveness, analysts have said, as the military struggles to break resistance to its rule. – AFP, December 27, 2021
