UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by reports that
civilians have been killed during security operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine
state and appealed for neighboring Bangladesh to allow fleeing Rohingya to seek
safety, his spokesman said on Monday.
“Many of those fleeing are women and children, some of
whom are wounded,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“(The Secretary-General) calls for humanitarian agencies
to be granted unfettered and free access to affected communities in need of
assistance and protection. The United Nations stands ready to provide all
necessary support to both Myanmar and Bangladesh in that regard,” Dujarric
said.
Myanmar security forces intensified operations against
Rohingya insurgents on Monday, police and other sources said, following three
days of clashes with militants in the worst violence involving Myanmar’s Muslim
minority in five years. [nL4N1LE2EK]
In Bangladesh on Monday, border guards tried to push back
refugees stranded in no man’s land near the village of Gumdhum. Reuters
reporters have heard gun fire from the Myanmar side in the last three days.
