Rohingya Muslims say Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years.
Eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village in Rakhine State, described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.
Soldiers have poured into the Maungdaw area since October 9, after an insurgent group of Rohingyas that the government believes has links to militants overseas launched coordinated attacks on several border guard posts.
Soldiers raped us amid crackdown on militants,say #Rohingya women https://t.co/PuLhKG78YL @ProtectRohingya @OfficialSuuKyi @ibrahimdubashi
— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) October 28, 2016
Citing evidence garnered by interrogating suspected militants, the government blamed the attacks on an armed group it says is made up of some 400 Rohingya fighters.
The militants, who have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online, are accused of killing nine police officers and five soldiers, and of stealing a cache of weapons.
Diplomats and UN officials say privately that the October 9 attacks and subsequent crackdown have shattered years of work rebuilding trust between the Muslim and Buddhist communities in Rakhine after ethnic and religious violence broke out there in 2012.
A man, who said he was arrested by Myanmar army and then released, shows scars on his hands at a Rohingya village outside Maugndaw in Rakhine state, Myanmar October 27, 2016 REUTERS'They tore my clothes'
A 40-year-old woman told Reuters that four soldiers raped her and assaulted her 15-year-old daughter, while stealing jewellery and cash from the family.
"They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off," the mother of seven told Reuters. "Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me."
Zaw Htay, the spokesman for Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, denied the allegations. "There's no logical way of committing rape in the middle of a big village of 800 homes, where insurgents are hiding," Zaw Htay said.
The military did not respond to an emailed request for comment about the accusations.
Security crackdown
The escalation of violence threatens to derail Suu Kyi’s goal of ending years of ethnic war in Myanmar, undermining the nation's surprisingly smooth democratic transition that started a year ago with her historic election win, observers and diplomats say.
After the first attacks, Suu Kyi urged the army to act in accordance with the law. The military- which oversaw decades of authoritarian rule and now presents itself as a responsible partner in Myanmar's transition - has declared an "operation zone" in northern Rakhine.
Residents and activists say civilians are being caught up in the security crackdown, and say scores more have been killed than the 33 alleged attackers that official reports have acknowledged.
Children recycle goods from the ruins of a market which was set on fire at a Rohingya village outside Maugndaw in Rakhine state, Myanmar, October 27, 2016 REUTERSMuslim propaganda
Zaw Htay accused residents of fabricating the allegations as part of a misinformation campaign led by the insurgents, which he compared to the tactics of IS and al-Qaeda.
Colonel Sein Lwin, the police chief for Rakhine State, dismissed the claims as "propaganda for Muslim groups."
Reuters reporters travelled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday - passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down - and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers.
Five other women from U Shey Kya have also detailed in a series of telephone interviews how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident.
The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on October 19.
Most male residents left the village as they believed they would be suspected as insurgents. The women said they stayed behind in the belief the military would burn down empty homes.
Soldiers dismantled the fences around homes, residents said, removing possible hiding places as part of what authorities called a "clearance operation."
