At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed in Kayah state, east of Myanmar, last Friday (24), according to the Karenni Human Rights Group, with two members of the international humanitarian group Save the Children still missing.
The “charred remains” were discovered and identified near the municipality of Hpruso, in the state – also known as Karenni – on December 25, according to the group.
The National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) called this the “Christmas massacre in Karenni state”, saying that the junta troops “detained an unconfirmed number of [moradores] and travelers and destroyed their property”.
“As the world celebrates Christmas and its message of peace, the NUG repeats its demands on the international community to act immediately and decisively to end the escalation of the military junta’s war crimes and crimes against the people of Myanmar,” added the statement from the NUG.
Myanmar’s military, which seized power in the country in a Feb. 1 coup, said it had shot and killed an unspecified number of “terrorists with weapons” from the opposition armed forces in the village, according to state media. People were in seven vehicles and did not stop for the military, he said.
The military did not respond to the request for comment from the CNN.
The Karenni National Defense Force, one of the largest of several civilian militias, told Reuters the dead were not its members, but civilians seeking refuge from the conflict.
Save the Children, an international NGO, said two employees who were traveling home on vacation were caught in the incident and remain missing.
“We have confirmation that your private vehicle was attacked and set on fire,” the organization said in a statement. “The military allegedly evicted people from their cars, arrested some, killed others and burned their bodies.”
Save the Children added that at least 38 people died in the attack, and the charity suspended its operations in Kayah, Chin and parts of Magway and Kayin in response.
“Save the Children condemns this attack as a violation of international humanitarian law. We are appalled by the violence perpetrated against innocent civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarian services supporting millions of children in need in Myanmar,” Save the Children Chief Executive Inger Ashing said in a statement. “Investigations into the nature of the incident continue, but attacks against aid workers cannot be tolerated.”
A CNN is contacting you for more information about the attack.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military toppled the previous elected government and arrested many key officials – including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested earlier this month.
Since the coup, the military has tried to assert its power over the people through bloody force.
UN agencies, human rights groups and local journalists documented massacres, mass arrests, torture, forced displacement, men, women and children murdered with impunity, heavy weapons used by junta forces to attack villages and eradicate armed resistance groups and the blockade of humanitarian aid.
Junta forces killed more than 1,300 people and imprisoned more than 11,000, according to the advocacy group Association for Political Prisoners’ Assistance.
The military rejected the AAPP data, cited by the United Nations, and accused it of bias.
This content was originally created in English.
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Reference: CNN Brasil
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