File photo: Myanmar soldiers walking along the Pyidaungsu highway road outside Kutkai in Shan State on August 25, 2019 AFP
File photo: Myanmar soldiers walking along the Pyidaungsu highway road outside Kutkai in Shan State on August 25, 2019 AFP

UN official condemns reported killings in Myanmar

A senior UN official said he was horrified by the reported killing of at least 35 civilians in Myanmar and called on authorities to investigate the incident that opposition activists blamed on government soldiers. The ruling military has not commented on the incident near Mo So village in Kayah State on Friday and junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment. State media reported that soldiers had fired on and killed an unspecified number of "terrorists with weapons" from forces fighting the military government. State media did not say anything about civilian casualties. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said the reports of the killing of the civilians, including at least one child, were credible. "I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country, which are prohibited under international humanitarian law," he said in a statement. Griffiths called for "a thorough and transparent" investigation so the perpetrators could be brought to justice and called for the protection of civilians. Residents and a human rights group working in the area said soldiers had killed the civilians. Photographs posted by the rights group showed charred bodies, some in the back of a burned-out truck.

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