YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The Latest on Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh (all times local):
6 a.m.
A senior U.S. official says allegations of abuse during a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar need to be investigated and perpetrators held accountable.
Patrick Murphy, who is the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state to Southeast Asia, said late Thursday there are voices globally saying if Myanmar doesn’t do it, “an international mechanism to examine those kinds of abuses” should be considered.
Security forces backed by Buddhist mobs have been accused of killings, rapes and the burning down of entire Rohingya villages in western Myanmar. They were retaliating against coordinated attacks by Rohingya militants on police posts and an army base.
More than 421.000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as a result of the crackdown.
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11:15 a.m.
A truck filled with humanitarian aid for Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh has veered off a road and fallen into a ditch, killing at least nine aid workers.
An official with the International Committee of the Red Cross says all of those killed Thursday morning were Bangladeshi workers hired to distribute food packages to 500 Rohingya families along Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar in Bandarban district. The official was not authorized to speak to media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
More than 420,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state in less than a month, after Rohingya insurgent attacks on police set off a military crackdown. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of homes have been burned.
A Bangladeshi medical administrator, Aung Swi Prue, says six people died instantly in the crash, and three others died after reaching a hospital. Ten others were injured and are receiving treatment.
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9 a.m.
Police in western Myanmar say they have fired warning shots after a Buddhist mob tried to block humanitarian aid headed to an area where ethnic Rohingya Muslims were driven from their homes. No injuries were reported.
Policemen Phyo Wai Kyaw says 300 men started throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers protecting International Committee of the Red Cross supplies late Wednesday.
The attack occurred in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. A military crackdown in northern Rakhine launched in retaliation for attacks by Rohingya militants last month has sent more than 410,000 members of the ethnic minority fleeing Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh.
The supplies were to be delivered by boat to Maungdaw township, where the violence was particularly intense. Buddhists in Rakhine have accused international aid groups of favoring Rohingya.
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