YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar security forces shot dead at least six people in the troubled western state of Rakhine on Thursday, after soldiers and police detained hundreds of people at a school, a military spokesman said.

Medical staff transfer injured patients from a Zay Di Pyin station hospital to Sittwe General Hospital in Sittwe, Myanmar, May 2, 2019. INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS via REUTERS

The soldiers had rounded up about 275 people during a search for members of the rebel Arakan Army, said Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun from the military’s True News Information Team.

There were conflicting accounts of events leading up to the shooting, which took place in an area off-limits to reporters and most aid agencies.

Zaw Min Tun said some of the detainees attempted to seize weapons in the early hours of the morning, forcing security forces to fire into a crowd.

“We warned them verbally. Then we fired warning shots into the air to disperse the group but they didn’t move, so shots were fired,” he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Myanmar Red Cross said in a statement they had transferred three “seriously injured patients” to hospital in the state capital of Sittwe, as well as two other “civilians” to a local hospital.

“The ICRC is concerned about increasing numbers of civilian casualties during the recent weeks, and urge all parties to the conflict to protect the civilian population in line with International Humanitarian Law,” said Stephan Sakalian, head of delegation in Myanmar for the ICRC.

Rakhine came to global attention after about 730,000 Rohingya Muslims crossed into Bangladesh fleeing a military crackdown in response to militant attacks in 2017. U.N. investigators have called for senior military officers to be prosecuted over allegations of mass killings, gang rapes and arson. The military denies widespread wrongdoing.

More recently, civilians have been caught up in clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine population and is fighting for greater autonomy for the state.

Since November, the fighting has displaced nearly 33,000 people across a large part of central and northern Rakhine and part of neighbouring Chin state, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The military has initiated legal action against two news organisations, accusing them of defamation for reports that detailed the alleged shooting of civilians by soldiers in March.

Zaw Min Tun told Reuters military and police searching the Rathedaung area’s Kyauk Tan village for suspected Arakan Army members found scores of people who were not registered with authorities as living there, so gathered those people in the school.

According to a preliminary investigation, he said, six people were killed after the alleged altercation at 2 a.m. on Thursday.

As well as those killed in the shooting, eight people had been brought to the hospital in nearby Zedi Pyin village with gunshots wounds, said Maung Soe Win, chairman of the Mayu Region Development Association, a local community group, who was at the hospital.

The injured people said they had been detained for two days when one villager with a mental health problem “got up, shouted and ran away in the middle of the night”, said Maung Soe Win.

“Then (security forces) shot the villagers continuously,” he told Reuters by phone.

Another military spokesman, Major General Tun Tun Nyi, said on Thursday afternoon the remaining villagers were still being held at the school and investigated for links to the Arakan Army.</s>YANGON: Myanmar’s army said it shot dead six detainees in a village school on Thursday while holding 275 men on suspicion of being Rakhine rebels, as fears over military impunity grow in the escalating fighting.

Security forces are battling the Arakan Army (AA), a group pushing for more autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Thousands of troops have been re-deployed to the poor western state, which in 2017 was the scene of the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

UN investigators say the violence against the Rohingya amounted to "genocide". More than 30,000 people have been forced from their homes in clashes with the AA since January. On Tuesday, troops descended on Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township, separating men aged between 15 and 50, local and military sources confirmed.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP on Thursday that 275 people "were being temporarily held in the village school for investigation". Shots were fired in the school early on Thursday morning when the detainees tried to "attack the security forces" who had no option but to shoot, Zaw Min Tun said.</s>YANGON: Myanmar's army said it shot dead six detainees in a village school Thursday while holding 275 men on suspicion of being Rakhine rebels, as fears over military impunity grow in the escalating fighting.

Security forces are battling the Arakan Army, a group pushing for more autonomy for the state's ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

Thousands of troops have been re-deployed to the poor western state, which in 2017 was the scene of the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

UN investigators say the violence against the Rohingya amounted to "genocide".

More than 30,000 people have been forced from their homes in clashes with the AA since January.

On Tuesday, troops descended on Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township, separating men aged between 15 and 50, local and military sources confirmed.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP Thursday that 275 people "were being temporarily held in the village school for investigation".

READ HERE | Outcry mounts over custodial deaths of Rakhine men in Myanmar

Shots were fired in the school early Thursday morning when the detainees tried to "attack the security forces" who had no option but to shoot, Zaw Min Tun said.

"Six were killed, eight were injured and four escaped," he said, adding warning shots had been first been fired and the wounded had been sent to hospital.

The six bodies were placed "in front of the school in plain view," villager Aye Maung told AFP by phone.

"They (the remaining detainees) are being held hostage and we're worried for their safety too," he said.

By Thursday evening, the village was still completely sealed off, said 57-year-old local resident Tun Aye Thein, adding there were "no AA members" in the village.

"We don't know what they (the military) will do as they've surrounded us," he said.

Local MP Tin Maung Win tried to enter Wednesday but said he was turned away by the army, adding he was "worried" for local residents.

The north of Rakhine state is in strict lockdown, making any independent verification difficult.

The latest killings come after outrage triggered by the deaths in April of three ethnic Rakhine in military custody -- and the secret cremation of their bodies.

The armed forces said two of the deaths were due to "heart failure" but did not give details of the third, cremating all three before their families could see them.

Campaign group Fortify Rights said the deaths show the military continues to act with "total impunity".

Rakhine is one of Myanmar's poorest regions and is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines.</s>YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar security forces shot dead at least six people in the troubled western state of Rakhine on Thursday, after soldiers and police detained hundreds of people at a school, a military spokesman said.

The soldiers had rounded up about 275 people during a search for members of the rebel Arakan Army, said Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun from the military’s True News Information Team.

There were conflicting accounts of events leading up to the shooting, which took place in an area off-limits to reporters and most aid agencies.

Zaw Min Tun said some of the detainees attempted to seize weapons in the early hours of the morning, forcing security forces to fire into a crowd.

“We warned them verbally. Then we fired warning shots into the air to disperse the group but they didn’t move, so shots were fired,” he said.

Rakhine came to global attention after about 730,000 Rohingya Muslims crossed into Bangladesh fleeing a military crackdown in response to militant attacks in 2017. U.N. investigators have called for senior military officers to be prosecuted over allegations of mass killings, gang rapes and arson. The military denies widespread wrongdoing.

More recently, civilians have been caught up in clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine population and is fighting for greater autonomy for the state.

Since November, the fighting has displaced nearly 33,000 people across a large part of central and northern Rakhine and part of neighboring Chin state, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The military has initiated legal action against two news organizations, accusing them of defamation for reports that detailed the alleged shooting of civilians by soldiers in March.

Zaw Min Tun told Reuters military and police searching the Rathedaung area’s Kyauk Tan village for suspected Arakan Army members found scores of people who were not registered with authorities as living there, so gathered those people in the school.

According to a preliminary investigation, he said, six people were killed after the alleged altercation at 2 a.m. on Thursday.

As well as those killed in the shooting, eight people had been brought to the hospital in nearby Zedi Pyin village with gunshots wounds, said Maung Soe Win, chairman of the Mayu Region Development Association, a local community group, who was at the hospital.

The injured people said they had been detained for two days when one villager with a mental health problem “got up, shouted and ran away in the middle of the night”, said Maung Soe Win.

“Then (security forces) shot the villagers continuously,” he told Reuters by phone.

Another military spokesman, Major General Tun Tun Nyi, said on Thursday afternoon the remaining villagers were still being held at the school and investigated for links to the Arakan Army.</s>UNHCR says Rohingya Muslims returns to Myanmar must not be rushed or premature

Myanmar military on Thursday shot dead seven civilians, who were among many villagers detained for interrogation in the country's Rakhine state, a lawmaker said.

The military earlier this week announced that it rounded up several hundred people in several villages in Rakhine state's Yathay Taung Township for questioning for their alleged ties to the Arakan Army, an ethnic rebel group.

It also said 275 men were held for interrogation at a school in Kyauk Tan village in Yathay Taung Township.

Soldiers on Thursday opened fire as a clash erupted with the detained villagers, according to Khim Maung Lat, a member of the country's upper house of the parliament.

"Seven villagers were shot dead and eight others were seriously injured," he told Anadolu Agency by phone.

"Before this accident, four civilians were also killed during the interrogation in other villages," he said.

The lawmaker said the military has ignored the request made by regional parliament to hand over the detainees to police.

"Civilians are being killed. It is unacceptable," he added.

Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a military spokesman, has confirmed the killing of six civilians.

According to him, the villagers attempt to seize weapons and harm the security forces during the interrogation.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Myanmar Red Cross said in a statement they had transferred three "seriously injured patients" to hospital in the state capital of Sittwe, as well as two other "civilians" to a local hospital.

"The ICRC is concerned about increasing numbers of civilian casualties during the recent weeks, and urge all parties to the conflict to protect the civilian population in line with International Humanitarian Law," said Stephan Sakalian, head of delegation in Myanmar for the ICRC.

Rakhine came to global attention after about 730,000 Rohingya Muslims crossed into Bangladesh fleeing a military crackdown in response to militant attacks in 2017. U.N. investigators have called for senior military officers to be prosecuted over allegations of mass killings, gang rapes and arson. The military denies widespread wrongdoing.

More recently, civilians have been caught up in clashes between the military and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine population and is fighting for greater autonomy for the state.

Since November, the fighting has displaced nearly 33,000 people across a large part of central and northern Rakhine and part of neighboring Chin state, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The military has initiated legal action against two news organizations, accusing them of defamation for reports that detailed the alleged shooting of civilians by soldiers in March.

Zaw Min Tun told Reuters military and police searching the Rathedaung area's Kyauk Tan village for suspected Arakan Army members found scores of people who were not registered with authorities as living there, so gathered those people in the school.

As well as those killed in the shooting, eight people had been brought to the hospital in nearby Zedi Pyin village with gunshots wounds, said Maung Soe Win, chairman of the Mayu Region Development Association, a local community group, who was at the hospital.

The injured people said they had been detained for two days when one villager with a mental health problem "got up, shouted and ran away in the middle of the night," said Maung Soe Win.

"Then (security forces) shot the villagers continuously," he told Reuters by phone.

Another military spokesman, Major General Tun Tun Nyi, said on Thursday afternoon the remaining villagers were still being held at the school and investigated for links to the Arakan Army.</s>YANGON: Myanmar’s army said it shot dead six detainees in a village school Thursday while holding 275 men on suspicion of being Rakhine rebels, as fears over military impunity grow in the escalating fighting. Security forces are battling the Arakan Army (AA), a group pushing for more autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Thousands of troops have been re-deployed to the poor western state, which in 2017 was the scene of the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims. UN investigators say the violence against the Rohingya amounted to “genocide”. More than 30,000 people have been forced from their homes in clashes with the AA since January. On Tuesday, troops descended on Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township, separating men aged between 15 and 50, local and military sources confirmed.</s>On Tuesday, troops descended on Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township, separating men aged between 15 and 50, local and military sources confirmed.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP Thursday that 275 people "were being temporarily held in the village school for investigation".

Shots were fired in the school early Thursday morning when the detainees tried to "attack the security forces" who had no option but to shoot, Zaw Min Tun said.

"Six were killed, eight were injured and four escaped," he said, adding warning shots had been first been fired and the wounded had been sent to hospital.

The six bodies were placed "in front of the school in plain view," villager Aye Maung told AFP by phone.

"They (the remaining detainees) are being held hostage and we're worried for their safety too," he said.

By Thursday evening, the village was still completely sealed off, said 57-year-old local resident Tun Aye Thein, adding there were "no AA members" in the village.

"We don't know what they (the military) will do as they've surrounded us," he said.

Local MP Tin Maung Win tried to enter Wednesday but said he was turned away by the army, adding he was "worried" for local residents.

The north of Rakhine state is in strict lockdown, making any independent verification difficult.

The latest killings come after outrage triggered by the deaths in April of three ethnic Rakhine in military custody -- and the secret cremation of their bodies.

The armed forces said two of the deaths were due to "heart failure" but did not give details of the third, cremating all three before their families could see them.

Campaign group Fortify Rights said the deaths show the military continues to act with "total impunity".

Rakhine is one of Myanmar's poorest regions and is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines.</s>Myanmar's army has said it shot dead at least six people detained in a village school in Rakhine state.A spokesman confirmed troops fired on unarmed detainees saying they had tried to grab the soldiers' weapons.The detained were being questioned for links to the rebels of the Arakan Army, who are ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.A multi-ethnic country, Myanmar is home to a number of rebel groups.While a lot of attention in recent years has been on the exodus of the Muslim Rohingya to Bangladesh, other ethnic minorities also clash frequently with the government's military.Journalists and most aid agencies are banned from northern Rakhine and it is hard to verify what happened on Thursday morning, the BBC's Nick Beake in Yangon says.Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told news agency AFP that 275 people "were being temporarily held in the village school for investigation" in Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township.He told AFP that warning shots had been fired first but that "six were killed, eight were injured and four escaped".The impoverished state of Rakhine in western Myanmar has seen years of fighting and unrest.Since 2016, Rakhine has also seen the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.UN officials believe Myanmar's army may have committed war crimes against the Rohingya - a charge it denies.
Myanmar security forces fire into a crowd of 275 Rakhine people detained during a search for Arakan Army members, killing six and wounding eight. The military claim that they were forced to shoot after some of the detainees attempted to seize their weapons, despite warning shots and verbal warnings.