UN secretary-general alarmed by reports of Myanmar airstrikes

19/3/2024 12:00

        United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by reports that military airstrikes in Myanmar, including on Monday in Minbya township, have killed and injured many civilians, a U.N. spokesman said.
        
        Myanmar has been convulsed by turmoil since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup.
        
        A U.N. spokesman said, "The expansion of conflict in Rakhine State is driving displacement and exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities and discrimination. The Secretary-General calls on all parties to prevent further incitement of communal tensions."
        
        Muslim Rohingya have faced persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades and nearly a million of them live in crammed camps in neighboring Bangladesh's border district of Cox's Bazar. Most fled a military crackdown in 2017.
        
        Myanmar's military rulers view the Rohingya as foreign interlopers and have denied them citizenship.