INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Many dozens of Rohingya people, including children, were killed in an artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians as they tried to
flee Myanmar last week.Civilians were trying to escape violence in Maungdaw town, Rakhine state, by crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh
when they were targeted last Monday
Videos shared on social media, which appeared to have been taken in the aftermath of the attack, showed bodies and bags strewn across the
ground.Nay San Lwin, the co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, who spoke to survivors, said the victims had travelled from villages
including Maung Ni, Myoma Taung and Myoma Kayin Dan to try to cross the border
They are saying at least more than 200 were killed and around 300 injured
There is nobody to collect the dead bodies
Everyone is running to save their lives
A survivor who spoke to Associated Press said 150 people had been killed and many others wounded.The Arakan Army, one of the armed groups
military blamed each other for the attack
Activists said they believed the Arakan Army was responsible, allegations the group denied
The activists said that for months the group had been targeting Rohingya people with killings, village torchings and forcible recruitment of
young men.The military has also been accused of atrocities against civilians
It already faces a genocide case in The Hague over its brutal crackdowns against Rohingya in 2016 and 2017
The minority group has long been persecuted in Myanmar, where people are denied citizenship and basic rights, such as freedom of
asked not to give his real name, told the Guardian drones flew from a village that was under the control of the Arakan Army, and repeatedly
struck civilians.His family escaped the violence because they had been staying in a nearby village while he tried to arrange a boat to take
So we managed [to take] a boat and crossed the border that morning
boats to try to flee to safety
Rahim said one of his friends boarded a small boat to try to escape but it became overloaded with people
to our investigation, family members of terrorists tried to go to Bangladesh from Maungdaw and the junta dropped the bomb because they left
Many of the patients had mortar shell injuries and gunshot wounds
The number of arrivals peaked on 6 August, MSF said, when it treated 21 people.It said the patients had described a desperate situation in
safer areas and of loved ones being killed in the violence
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
