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Dozens of people, including families with children, have been killed in a drone attack on Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar, witnesses have reported. The Rohingya are a mostly Muslim minority facing severe persecution in the country.
The attack is reported to have occurred last Monday, in Rakhine state near the border with Bangladesh.
The strike killed a heavily pregnant woman and her two-year-old daughter, while survivors were seen identifying their dead and injured relatives at the site, which was littered with piles of bodies, according to Reuters.
Activists, a diplomat and four other witnesses confirmed the attack on families trying to cross the Myanmar border into Bangladesh. This is the worst attack on civilians in Rakhine state in recent weeks, with fierce fighting between rebels and troops of the military junta currently in control of Myanmar.
According to three witnesses present at the spot, the Arakan Army, one of several armed groups currently fighting in Myanmar, was responsible. The militia group has rejected this.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the junta seized power from a democratically elected government in 2021, with mass protests evolving into widespread armed struggle.
Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi was removed from power by the military, sentenced to house arrest, and is currently serving a 27-year prison term on various criminal convictions in a specially built annex of the main prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, (though she was reportedly recently transferred to house arrest because of the extremely hot weather).
Meanwhile, Rohingya have been fleeing Rakhine for weeks as the Arakan Army has made significant gains in the north, which is home to a large Muslim population.
On Monday, visuals of the attack posted on social media showed piles of bodies strewn across muddy ground, with suitcases and backpacks scattered around them. Three survivors reported that more than 200 people had died, and a witness to the aftermath stated he had seen at least 70 bodies.
The Independent has not verified the claims on the ground. The location of the attack site has been placed just outside the coastal Myanmar town of Maungdaw by Reuters.
One man said his wife and two-year-old daughter were injured in the attack and later died of their wounds.
He said he was standing with them on the shore when drones began attacking the crowds. The man, named as Eleyas, 35, is now in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.
“I heard the deafening sound of shelling multiple times,” he said. Eleyas said he lay on the ground to protect himself and when he got up, he saw his wife and daughter critically injured and many of his other relatives dead.
Another witness, 28-year-old Shamsuddin, speaking from a refugee camp, said he survived with his wife and newborn son. He described seeing many dead and reported that “some people were shouting out from the pain of their injuries”.
In another apparent attack on Monday, boats carrying fleeing Rohingya sunk in the Naf River, which separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. Witnesses and Bangladeshi media reported that dozens of people were killed.
At least 39 people were treated by Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF) for violence-related injuries, including mortar shell and gunshot wounds, the aid organisation said. Patients described seeing people bombed while trying to find boats to cross the river, MSF said.
A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said the agency was “aware of the deaths of refugees from the capsize of two boats in the Bay of Bengal”. They said they had heard reports of civilian deaths in Maungdaw but could not confirm the numbers or circumstances.
