Alwaght- Armed forces of Myanmar have slaughtered over 150 Muslim people in a recent wave of violence against the minority.
The ethnic Rohingya Muslim community says the recent attacks by the country’s armed forces against the minority group in the western state of Rakhine cost the lives of tens of Muslims.
Ko Ko Linn of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization said that according to villagers, at least 150 people had been killed in Maungdaw district by security forces since Saturday.
Referring to the government efforts to block access to the area, he said "the reason why the international news agencies and aid groups are not allowed to go there is because the military is trying to cover up what they are doing there, the killings and other things. They are lying."
Nay San Lwin, a blogger based in Europe who has closely monitored Rohingya developments since 2012, said reports from a network of activists in Rakhine said that more than 100 bodies had been discovered by villagers, some covered by hay or burned.
The government on Tuesday acknowledged the deaths of 69 Muslims as well as 17 members of the security forces.
The slaughter is claimed by the government to be a counterinsurgency operation, but rights groups blame the army for burning down tens of houses and other abuses of Rohingya civilians.
Tensions have been high in Rakhine since 2012 when extremist Buddhists attacked Rohingya Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya are still in squalid camps for the internally displaced after being driven from their homes at that time. Muslims have lived in Myanmar for generations the government denies citizenship to most of them, saying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Government military operations intensified last month after nine police officers were killed in attacks on posts along the border with Bangladesh.
On Tuesday, the United States called for Myanmar to do more to stem the violence. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said a U.S. delegation holding previously scheduled talks in Myanmar urged the government to "improve transparency."
Concern was also expressed by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who heads a commission appointed by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate the cause of tensions in Rakhine.
"As chair of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, I wish to express my deep concern over the recent violence in northern Rakhine state, which is plunging the state into renewed instability and creating new displacement," Annan said in a statement Tuesday. "All communities must renounce violence and I urge the security services to act in full compliance with the rule of law."
