independent.ie– Two workers from Save The Children are missing following a massacre in eastern Myanmar that left more than 30 people including women and children dead, according to the international aid group.
The victims were burned in their vehicles after they were reportedly shot by government troops as they fled attacking forces, prompting US condemnation for the “barbarity”.
Photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve killings in Mo So village, just outside Hpruso township in Kayah state, spread on social media in the country, fuelling outrage against the military that took power in February after removing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Images showed the charred bodies of more than 30 people in three burned-out vehicles. The accounts could not be independently verified.
The US embassy in Myanmar said yesterday it was appalled by the “barbaric attack in Kayah state that killed at least 35 civilians, including women and children”.
“We will continue to press for accountability for the perpetrators of the ongoing campaign of violence against the people of Burma,” it said in a statement.
Save The Children said it was suspending operations in the region following the violence
He said the victims were killed after they were arrested by troops while heading to refugee camps in the western part of the township.
Save The Children said two of its staff who were travelling home for the holidays after conducting humanitarian response work in a nearby community were “caught up in the incident and remain missing”.
“We have confirmation that their private vehicle was attacked and burned out,” the group added in a statement.
“The military reportedly forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed others and burned their bodies.”
The government has not commented on the allegations, but a report in the state-run Myanma Alinn daily newspaper on Saturday said the fighting near Mo So broke out on Friday when members of ethnic guerrilla forces, known as the Karenni National Progressive Party, and those opposed to the military drove in “suspicious” vehicles and attacked security forces after refusing to stop.
The witness added that the remains were burned beyond recognition. “The bodies were tied with ropes before being set on fire,” said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.
He did not see the moment they were killed, but said he believed some of them were Mo So villagers who reportedly were arrested by troops on Friday. He denied those captured were members of militia groups.
“It’s a heinous crime and the worst incident during Christmas. We strongly condemn that massacre as a crime against humanity,” said Banyar Khun Aung, director of the Karenni Human Rights Group.
Earlier this month, government troops were also accused of rounding up villagers, some believed to be children, tying them up and killing them.
Fighting resumed at the weekend at the Thai border, where thousands have fled to seek refuge.
The action of Myanmar’s military has prompted multiple Western governments, including the United States, to issue a joint statement condemning “serious human rights violations committed by the military regime across the country”.
“We call on the regime to immediately cease its indiscriminate attacks in Karen state and throughout the country and to ensure the safety of all civilians in line with international law,” the joint statement said.
