Amidst the carnage in Bangladesh, several dozen Rohingyas were again massacred in its neighbourhood. Several dozen people were killed in drone attacks on Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar, including families who were fleeing with their innocent children. Many people said that there were piles of bodies. Survivors were wandering among the piles of bodies to identify their relatives. According to the report, witnesses, activists and a diplomat said that this attack took place on Monday. First the drones chased them and then dropped bombs on them. These people were waiting to cross the border into neighboring Bangladesh. During this time they were attacked by drones.
Arakan Army is responsible for this
A pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter were among the victims. It was the deadliest attack on civilians in Rakhine state in recent weeks amid fighting between the military and insurgents. Three witnesses told Reuters on Friday the Arakan Army was responsible, but the group denied the accusations. The militia and Myanmar’s military blamed each other.
The exact number of people killed in the attack is not known. But it is feared that several dozen people have been killed. Videos posted on social media showed piles of bodies in a muddy field, their suitcases and bags scattered around them. Three survivors said more than 200 people were killed, while an eyewitness after the incident said he saw at least 70 bodies. According to the video that has emerged, the incident took place just outside the coastal city of Maungdaw in Myanmar.
Pregnant women and children also died
One witness, Mohammed Ilyas, 35, said his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter were injured in the attack and later died. Speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, Ilyas said he was standing with them on the shoreline when the drones began attacking the crowd. “I heard the deafening sound of gunfire several times,” he said. Ilyas said he lay down on the ground to protect himself and when he got up, he saw his wife and daughter were seriously injured and many of his other relatives were dead. A second witness, Shamsuddin, 28, said he survived with his wife and newborn son. Speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, he said many people were lying dead after the attack and “some were screaming from the pain of their injuries”.
Many people died due to boat capsizing
Boats carrying Rohingyas, members of a Muslim minority community facing extreme persecution in Myanmar, also sank in the Naf river separating the two countries on Monday, killing dozens, according to two witnesses and Bangladeshi media. Medecins Sans Frontiers said in a statement that the aid organisation had treated 39 people who entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since Saturday with injuries related to the violence, including mortar shell injuries and gunshot wounds. Patients reported being bombed while trying to find a boat to cross the river, the statement said. A spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees said the agency was “aware of the deaths of refugees when two boats capsized in the Bay of Bengal” and had heard reports of civilian deaths in Maungdaw, but could not confirm the number or circumstances.
Violence increased since 2017
The Rohingya have long been persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. More than 730,000 of them fled the country in 2017 after a military-led crackdown that the UN said was carried out with genocidal intent. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the democratically elected government in 2021 and mass protests have turned into a widespread armed conflict. The Rohingya have been leaving Rakhine for several weeks as the Arakan Army, one of several armed groups, has won sweeps in the north. The area is home to a large population of Muslims.
