Save the Children has confirmed workers killed in Myanmar | Conflict Issues
The liberation movement says two workers in more than 30 people were killed by soldiers on the main road in Kayah state.
Save the Children has confirmed that two of their co-workers were killed in a Christmas carnage that killed more than 30 people on a highway in eastern Myanmar.
The anti-military militia said they found more than 30 bodies burned, including women and children, on the main road in Kayah district where pro-democracy militants have been battling the military.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm today that two members of the Save the Children group were among at least 35 people … killed on Friday, December 24 during a Myanmar military offensive in Kayah State, in the eastern part of the country.” an agency from the UK said in a statement Tuesday, adding that both were new fathers.
Save the Children says the military “forced people to get out of their cars, arrest others, kill many and burn their bodies”.
“These issues are alarming,” said Inger Ashing.
“We are appalled by the violence against civilians and our staff, who are volunteers, who help millions of children in need in Myanmar,” he added.
EXERCISE: With great sadness we assure 2 of our staff and some of the bodies found there #Manmar after the military invasion of Christmas. Both new fathers are working to raise children. The UN Security Council must hold accountable those responsible https://t.co/4Xe1m7ZtlD
– SavetheChildren News (@SaveUKNews) December 28, 2021
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the Nobel laureate government Aung San Suu Kyi in February, alleging fraud in an election his party won.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in riots by the security forces, according to the regional watchdog.
The so-called “People’s Security Forces” have marched across the country to fight the military regime, prompting the military to fight back in retaliation for bloodshed.
Suspended services
Myanmar troops say they were attacked in the town of Hpruso on Friday after their troops tried to stop seven vehicles driving “a suspicious route”.
Troops killed several people during the ensuing war, a spokesman for Myanmar’s Zaw Min Tun army told AFP, without elaborating.
A Myanmar Witness spokesman confirmed reports from local media and local military veterans’ accounts that “35 people, including children and women, had been burned and killed by the military during the attack.”
Satellite reports also indicate that the fire broke out around 1pm (06:30 GMT) on Friday in Hpruso, it added.
The United Nations Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths later said he was “shocked” by the reports and called on the government to investigate.
Save the Children, which has about 900 employees in Myanmar, later said it had suspended operations in Kayah state and several other states.
In October, the group said its office in the western town of Thantlang had been destroyed by gunfire, which also destroyed several homes in the aftermath of an altercation with the anti-terrorist group.
