{"id":4752,"date":"2018-01-11T12:56:52","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T06:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/new-eng\/?p=4752"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T06:29:09","slug":"myanmar-military-admits-mass-murder-of-rohingya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/?p=4752","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar military admits mass murder of Rohingya"},"content":{"rendered":"

YANGON: Myanmar\u2019s military admitted on Wednesday its soldiers had murdered 10 captured Muslim \u201cterrorists\u201d during insurgent attacks at the beginning of September.<\/p>\n

Local Buddhist villagers joined in the mass murder by digging the mass grave and forcing the captured men into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cVillagers and members of the security forces have confessed that they committed murder,\u201d the military said in a statement.<\/p>\n

A five-member military team led by Lt Gen Aye Win visited the mass grave (seen in photo above) and interviewed 49 witnesses, according to the armed forces\u2019 statement.<\/p>\n

It was\u00a0the first known admission of wrongdoing<\/a>\u00a0by the Myanmar military during its operations in the western state of Rakhine.<\/p>\n

A statement released by watchdog Amnesty International condemned the massacre but said it has strong evidence of other mass murders of Rohingya by the\u00a0tatmadaw<\/em>, or Myanmar armed forces.<\/p>\n

The Wednesday statement, said AI, \u201cis only the tip of the iceberg and warrants serious independent investigation into what other atrocities were committed amid the ethnic cleansing campaign that has forced out more than 655,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State since last August\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmnesty International and others have documented overwhelming evidence that far beyond Inn Din, in villages and hamlets across northern Rakhine State, the military has murdered and raped Rohingya, and burned their villages to the ground. These acts amount to crimes against humanity and those responsible must be brought to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The army launched a sweeping counter-offensive in the north of the state in response to Rohingya militant attacks on Aug 25, triggering an exodus of more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslim villagers.<\/p>\n

The United Nations has condemned the army\u2019s campaign as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies that, saying its forces were carrying out legitimate counterinsurgency operations.<\/p>\n

The military announced on Dec 18 that a mass grave containing 10 bodies had been found at the coastal village of Inn Din, about 50 kilometres north of the state capital Sittwe. The army appointed a senior officer to investigate.<\/p>\n