Myanmar government rebuts massacre reports as 'conspiracy'
Myanmar’s military-installed government has described as “fake news” reports that its troops were involved in a widely reported massacre in which soldiers allegedly rounded up and killed 11 civilians whose charred bodies were later discovered by fellow villagers
Myanmar’s military-installed government has described as “fake news” reports that its troops were involved in a widely reported massacre in the country’s northwest in which soldiers allegedly rounded up and killed 11 civilians whose charred bodies were later discovered by fellow villagers.
A story in Friday’s edition of the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused “the nation-destroying media” of spreading a video that misrepresented the massacre as having been carried out by Myanmar security forces.
“The initial on-ground investigation revealed that such a video file was not (at all) related to undertakings of the Tatmadaw and that it was a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the Tatmadaw,” the report said, using the formal name for the country’s military. It gave no further details about the killings.
“The video has been immediately and widely circulated on social media because of a conspiracy by local and international connections,” the report said.
Photos and video of smoldering corpses in Done Taw village in Sagaing region circulated widely, sparking outrage. They were said to be have been taken shortly after the men were killed and their bodies set on fire.
Independent media in Myanmar, generally forced to operate underground due to government restrictions and intimidation, issued accounts of the killings based on interviews with witnesses and residents of the area. Their reports said it was believed to have been in retaliation for an attack on government forces by members of a local unit of the People’s Defense Force, a lightly armed militia that confronts security forces.
Myanmar’s military has long had a reputation for brutality, historically directed toward ethnic minorities in border regions. But since February’s army takeover ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi the military's lethal tactics have been applied against opponents throughout the country.
Resistance activities have been taking place in the cities and the countryside, but the fighting is deadliest in rural areas where the army has unleashed greater force. In recent months the fighting has been sharpest in Sagaing and other areas of the northwest.
Friday’s story, which was headlined “Press Release on Misinformation and Disinformation Appearing on Social Media,” accused unnamed countries “wishing to disintegrate Myanmar” of inciting bloodshed to spread hatred and to escalate the conflict.
“In such doing, they provided fake news about the casualties of security forces in order to inspire and motivate terrorists and their supporters,” it said, referring to allegations of killings by the army.
It alleged there was a conspiracy “spending a huge amount of money and providing technical support to spreading misinformation across social media in synchronization domestically and internationally.”
The same report in Friday’s newspaper cited an incident on Sunday in which a military vehicle deliberately plowed into a small group of non-violent pro-democracy protesters in Yangon the country’s biggest city. Witnesses said that at least three people appeared grievously injured, and photos showed them lying in the street. News reports said it appeared that three to five people had been killed in the attack.
The report accused the protesters of consisting of “terrorists, and would be transforming into terrorism,” said that security forces ”have to undertake counterterrorism measures."