Over a dozen Rohingya killed in Myanmar army attacks: Activist

ANKARA

Over a dozen Rohingya Muslims were killed in Myanmar army's artillery attacks in the country's western Rakhine state, said a human rights activist on Saturday.

Ro Nay San Lwin, co-founder of Free Rohingya Coalition, an umbrella network of Rohingya refugees, said the Myanmar military targeted the community in Hpon Nyo Lake village of Buthidaung Tsp in the last two days.

"More than a dozen Rohingya KILLED & dozens injured in two days. Myanmar military fired artillery into Hpon Nyo Lake village of Buthidaung Tsp in Rakhine State on Thursday and Friday," Lwin said on X.

"Amid fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military, Rohingya casualties are numerous and have become a target," he added.

In 2017, a mass exodus of Rohingya people was provoked by the Myanmar military's brutal crackdown on the Muslim minority in the country.

Since then, approximately 1.2 million Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, living in precarious situations at the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.

Currently, at least three ethnic armed groups, which united under the so-called Brotherhood Alliance, also have been fighting the junta regime to take control in the northern parts of Myanmar since late October.

Myanmar has been under junta rule since February 2021 and the military, locally known as Tatmadaw, has faced severe resistance from ethnic groups in many regions of the country.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid