Myanmar Army May Have Killed Over 1,000 Rohingyas, Says UN Official

More than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims might have been killed by the Myanmar Army in crackdown last year, according to two senior United Nations Officials, says a Reuters report.

The UN officials dealing with the refugee crisis in the Buddhist-majority country, in their stunning revelation, suggested that the death toll has been far greater than expected or reported.

The report is a clear indicator of the fact that the Rohingyas crisis unfolding in the Rakhine state, where at least 65,000 were reported to have fled to Bangladesh last year, is much more severe than what it looks like.

Read also: The Rohingya Of Rakhine- All You Want To Know About Them

In addition to the information the two UN officials gave Reuters, a report released by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on February 3 gave accounts of mass killings and gang rapes by troops in northwestern Myanmar in recent months, which it said probably constituted crimes against humanity.

The exodus of Rohingya from northern Rakhine began after Myanmar's army launched clearance operations while searching for insurgents behind deadly raids on police border posts last year.

Read also: Satellite Images Show Myanmar Rohingya Villages Torched

Escapees from the persecuted Muslim minority in Bangladesh have given harrowing accounts of security forces committing mass rape, murder and arson.

The government led by Aung San Suu Kyi said last week it would investigate the allegations in the report. It has previously denied almost all accusations.