By Rebecca Ratcliffe | The Guardian
Witnesses say people killed in artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians fleeing violence.
People mourn near the bodies of Rohingya refugees who drowned in the Naf River last week. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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. The drone attacks began at about 5pm the same day, he said.
“They told me several dozen, at least three to four dozen, drone bombs were dropped there. 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. Some are already in Bangladesh,” Nay San Lwin said.
Survivors who spoke to Reuters said they believed more than 200 people had been killed. 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 seeking to overthrow the junta, has seized large areas of Rakhine state from the military in recent months.
The militia and Myanmar’s 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 movement.
“The Arakan Army is trying to finish the business of the Myanmar military,” said Nay San Lwin.
Rahim, a witness to the attack who 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 them to Bangladesh. The family managed to cross the border at 4am on Tuesday.
“We decided we can’t stay in this town and in this country, we also will be killed. So we managed [to take] a boat and crossed the border that morning. The dead bodies were here and there, everywhere at that place,” he said. “No one could go to that place to help the injured people.
“When we are coming through that place, some people are still alive, but there was not any help. I am still hearing a voice, one person is telling [us]: ‘I am still not dead, please help me’, like this. But no one goes to help them because everyone is rushing to save their own lives and their own families.”
Survivors waited desperately for 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. His friend’s five children died when it sank.
“We have the right to live as a human being,” he said. “We just need to live simply as a human being in our own place, own country, own town.”
An Arakan Army spokesperson told Reuters: “According to our investigation, family members of terrorists tried to go to Bangladesh from Maungdaw and the junta dropped the bomb because they left without permission,” referring to Muslims who have joined Rohingya armed groups fighting against the Arakan Army.
Médecins Sans Frontières said that as of 10 August, its staff in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, had treated 50 patients who had fled Myanmar, including 18 children. 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 Rakhine state. “Some reported seeing people bombed while trying to find boats to cross the river into Bangladesh and escape the violence. Others described seeing hundreds of dead bodies on the riverbanks.
“Many patients spoke of being separated from their families en route to safer areas and of loved ones being killed in the violence. Many people said they were fearful that family members remaining in Myanmar would not survive.”
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