MYANMAR (UCAN): On 28 December 2021, the Save the Children Fund confirmed that two of its staff were killed in a Christmas Eve massacre of more than 30 people in Myanmar blamed on junta troops, leading the United States to press for an arms embargo.
Anti-junta fighters said they found over 30 burnt bodies, including women and children, on a highway in eastern Kayah state where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military.
Save the Children confirmed in a statement that two of its staffers, who had been missing, were “among at least 35 people, including women and children, who were killed.”
It said, “The military forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed many and burnt the bodies,” adding the two victims were both new fathers.
The statement said that one of the men had been working as a teacher trainer and the other had joined the charity six years ago, adding it would not identify them for security reasons.
“This news is absolutely horrifying,” said the organisation’s chief executive, Inger Ashing.
“We are shaken by the violence carried out against civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar.”
The junta previously said its troops had been attacked in Hpruso township on Friday after they attempted to stop seven cars driving in a “suspicious way,’ killing an undisclosed number of people, according to spokesperson, Zaw Min Tun.
The Myanmar Witness monitor said that satellite data showed a fire in the area at around 1:00 pm on December 24 and that it had confirmed accounts that 35 people, including children and women, were burnt and killed by the military.
Save the Children, which has around 900 people working in Myanmar, suspended operations in Kayah state and several other regions.
In October the group said its office in the western town of Thantlang was destroyed in shelling that also razed dozens of homes following clashes with a local anti-junta group.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the February coup [Sunday Examiner, 7 February 2021] with more than 1,300 people killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.
United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, earlier said he was “horrified” by reports of the massacre and demanded that authorities conduct an investigation.
