In one of the deadliest waves of violence targeting the Myanmar Muslim minority in decades, over 2,600 houses have been burned down in Rohingya-majority areas northwest of the country in one week.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that about 58,600 Rohingya Muslims had fled the violence into Bangladesh from Myanmar, adding that aid workers there are struggling to cope with the humanitarian situation.

Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh said a Myanmar army-led campaign of arson and killings was targeting them in an attempt to force them out, while officials blamed an Islamist group called “Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army” for the arson spree.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said that it had analysed satellite imagees and accounts from Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, showing the Myanmar security forces deliberately setting the fires

Source: BNA