12 killed and 80 injured in an attack on a market in Myanmar/UN reacted

At least 12 people were killed and 80 injured among civilians when artillery shells fired into a busy market in Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

According to the Straits Times newspaper, Volker Turk, the High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council, said this Friday: the international community should limit the Myanmar military government’s access to weapons, jet fuel and currency with “targeted action” in order to prevent ” “Crime” against the people should be prevented.

The insurgent group Arakan Army (AA), which operates in Rakhine State and neighboring Bangladesh, said that a military warship attacked this market near the port city of Sittwe on Thursday, killing 12 people and injuring more. Out of 80 people were injured.

The forces of the military regime and anti-military regime of this country have put the responsibility of the attack on each other.

Myanmar’s military government published a statement on Myawadi state TV channel and claimed that these bullets were fired by the Arakan army. This statement did not confirm the number of casualties.

Sitwe and other towns in Rakhine have no access to data as Myanmar’s military government has once again imposed restrictions on the state’s internet and mobile data.

Referring to Myanmar’s military regime, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva said: I request the international community to focus once again on preventing crimes against the people of this country, including the Rohingya refugees.

He added that countries should end this army’s access to weapons, jet fuel and currency, which are necessary to maintain the repression of civilians.

Rohingya Muslims have been persecuted for decades in Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country, and nearly a million of them live in overcrowded camps in the Cooks Bazar border region of Bangladesh. Most of them fled the military repression of 2017. The military rulers of Myanmar consider the Rohingya refugees to be foreign invaders and have denied their citizenship.

Volker Turk said: After decades of organized discrimination, repression, massive and forced displacement and other serious human rights violations, Rohingya refugees today are basically imprisoned in villages and forced detention camps.

Bangladesh announced in February (February-March) that it will no longer allow Rohingya refugees to enter the country from Myanmar, because handling a large number of these people threatens the security of its country.

Volker Turk said: “My office has received several credible reports that hundreds of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence are being denied entry to Bangladesh.”

He added: I ask all member countries to ensure international support for refugees and people who have fled the persecution and conflict in Myanmar.

Myanmar has been in a cycle of violence since the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew the “National Union for Democracy government”.

Myanmar’s military government is facing the biggest challenge to maintain its power since October after armed ethnic armies launched coordinated attacks on military bases in several states across the country.

In Rakhine, the conflict between the Arakan Army and Myanmar’s military government has intensified and this war is concentrated near the state capital of Sittwe, an important port and commercial center of the Bay of Bengal.

A spokesman for the ethnic armed group said the Arakan Army had pushed Myanmar’s junta forces out of at least five towns, including Pletwa, a key trading post, and Ponnagyon, 34 kilometers from Sittwe.

Source: IRNA