You can see the purge of Myanmar's Rohingyas from space

If Myanmar’s notorious army is to be believed — that’s a very big if — its soldiers are facing a highly deranged adversary.

Along Myanmar’s marshy coastline, villages keep going up in flames. All of them belong to the Rohingya, a horribly persecuted Muslim group. The arsonists? Muslims themselves, according to the army.

The Rohingya, we are told, are burning their own homes to attract well-armed government platoons — and then sprinting at them with knives, berserker style, so that they can get mowed down by the dozens.

This narrative defies logic. But it’s hard to challenge directly — and that’s how the army likes it. (Courtesy of usatoday.com)

Myanmar army continues to pound Rohingya villages

As many as 69 members of what Myanmar’s government has described as a Rohingya Muslim militant group and 17 security forces have been killed in a recent escalation of fighting in northwestern Rakhine State, the army said on Tuesday.

The death toll, announced in the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar daily, exceeded that reported by state media over the weekend, demonstrating the scale of the largest escalation of the conflict since violence erupted a month ago.

Diplomats and observers have held out hope that the military will swiftly conclude its “clearance operation” in the troubled north of Rakhine, but the recent wave of killings has cast a doubt over such prospects.

The violence is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in Rakhine in 2012. (Courtesy of saudigazette.com.sa)

Rohingya advocates say Myanmar deaths exceed 100

Advocates for Myanmar’s Muslim ethnic Rohingya community said Wednesday that more than 100 members of the minority group have been killed in recent government counterinsurgency sweeps in the western state of Rakhine.

Ko Ko Linn of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization said that according to villagers, at least 150 people had been killed in Maungdaw district by security forces since Saturday. Independent verification of both army and activists’ claims is difficult because the government has restricted access to the area.

“The reason why the international news agencies and aid groups are not allowed to go there is because the military is trying to cover up what they are doing there, the killings and other things,” Ko Ko Linn said by phone. “They are lying.” (Courtesy of washingtonpost.com)