(United Nations) UN Deputy Secretary-General Martin Griffiths said on Sunday he was “horrified by reports of an attack on civilians” in Burma on December 24.
Describing as “credible” the information on the discovery of “35 bodies” in burnt vehicles in the north-east of the country, he continued, in a statement: “I condemn these serious facts” and “calls on the authorities to immediately launch an investigation. serious and transparent investigation ”.
PHOTO FABRICE COFFRINI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths
Photos were posted on social media on Saturday showing two trucks and a car set on fire on a road in Hpruso township, Kayah state, with bodies inside.
A leader of the rebellion against the ruling junta, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), told AFP that he had found at least 27 corpses.
According to the Myanmar Witness Observatory, “35 people, including children and women, were burned and killed by the military on December 24 in Hpruso township.”
A spokesman for the junta, Zaw Min Tun, for his part admitted that clashes erupted in the area on Friday, and that the soldiers had killed a number of people, without giving further details.
The NGO Save the Children then announced that two members of its staff in Burma were “missing”.
“I call on the Burmese forces and all armed groups in Burma to take all necessary measures to protect civilians,” said Martin Griffiths.
Burma has sunk into chaos since a putsch in early February that ended a 10-year democratic transition. In 10 months, more than 1,300 civilians were killed, according to a local NGO, the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).
In response, PDF citizen militias have sprung up in the country and regularly inflict setbacks on the powerful Burmese army.