 |
| File Photo: BGP operation along Rohingya villages |
By AFP
YANGON — A local
employee with an international aid group in strife-torn Rakhine State has been
stabbed to death, the government said Saturday, the latest in a spate of grisly
killings blamed on Rohingya militants.
Northern Rakhine has
been gripped by crisis ever since the military launched a brutal crackdown on
Rohingya Muslims in response to a militant uprising in October 2016.
More than 75,000
Rohingya fled the army campaign, which UN investigators say was so ruthless it
may amount to a crime against humanity.
While the region has
stabilised in recent months, the government has documented at least 60 cases of
civilian murders or abductions since October, with an uptick in recent weeks.
Most killings have
targeted local leaders or other suspected collaborators with the state.
On Saturday the
government said a local aid worker in northern Rakhine was dragged out of his
home on Thursday and hacked to death by "about 10 terrorists wearing black
masks and holding hatchets and knives".
The victim,
34-year-old Nu Islam, worked for Community and Family Services International, a
humanitarian group based in Philippines.
The organisation was
working on child protection and education services in northern Rakhine,
according to the statement from the office of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.
In recent weeks a
Twitter account that claims to represent the militants, known as the Arakan
Rohingya Salvation Army, denied responsibility for the killings and accused
Myanmar authorities of trying to discredit their movement.
The ARSA says it is
fighting for the political rights of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority,
who have endured years of discrimination and persecution in Buddhist-majority
Myanmar.
Richard Horsey, an
independent analyst based in Myanmar, said it was not "100 percent
clear" who was behind the killings but that they appear to play to the
advantage of the insurgents.
"What is clear
is that across northern Rakhine State there is a systematic effort underway to
take out Muslims who are in some way connected to or perceived to be connected
to authorities," he told AFP.
The crisis in
Rakhine has heaped global pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi, who has disappointed
rights groups by defending the army's crackdown on the Rohingya.
The government has
also rejected a UN probe of the alleged atrocities carried out by soldiers,
vowing this week to deny visas to the fact-finding team.
Sources: http://str.sg/4aG9