Arakan News Agency
The government of Myanmar (Burma) has admitted firing on villages occupied by the Rohingya Muslim minority with helicopter gunships.
There are reports of villages burning in the northern region of Arakan.
Photos released by Human Rights Watch seem to show charred villages, with the group reporting 430 burnt buildings.
The satellite photos were taken between 22 October and 10 November, following reports of fighting and civilians fleeing last month.
Rohingya activists say the government is trying systematically to drive the Muslim minority from their villages.
Attacking the Rohingya is a popular move for the military, the BBC’s Jonah Fisher reports from Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
The Burmese government is not allowing independent journalists into Arakan.
Recent renewed military campaigns against the Rohingya in Arakan by the Myanmar army violates every article of Universal Declaration of Human Rights by United Nations.
Which condemns arbitrary arrests, sexual abuses, extra judicial killings, forced displacement, right to movement, hate speech towards Rohingya as propaganda, denial of Rohingya ethnicity existence and right to education.
Locals claims Army called in air support and two helicopter gunships fired on the Rohingya village.
Casualty figures vary widely, our correspondent says.
Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the new photos showed “widespread destruction” that was “greater than we first thought”.
“Burmese authorities should promptly establish a UN-assisted investigation as a first step toward ensuring justice and security for the victims,” he said.
The government – led by Aung San Suu Kyi – talks of “clearance operations” as part of the search for the attackers.
