Myanmar Drone Attack Kill Dozens, Including Children -witnesses

A drone attack on Rohingya fleeing Myanmar killed many dozens of people, including families with children, several witnesses said, describing survivors wandering between piles of bodies to identify dead and injured relatives.

Four witnesses, activists and a diplomat described drone attacks on Monday that struck down families waiting to cross the border into neighbouring Bangladesh.

A heavily pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter were among the victims in the attack, the single deadliest known assault on civilians in Rakhine state during recent weeks of fighting between junta troops and rebels

Three of the witnesses on Friday said that the Arakan Army was responsible, allegations the group denied.

The militia and Myanmar’s military blamed each another.

Videos posted to social media showed piles of bodies strewn across muddy ground, their suitcases and backpacks scattered around them.

Three survivors said more than 200 had died while a witness to the aftermath said he had seen at least 70 bodies.

One witness, 35-year-old Mohammed Eleyas, said “his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter were wounded in the attack and later died. He was standing with them on the shoreline when drones began attacking the crowds,” Eleyas said.

“I heard the deafening sound of shelling multiple times,” he said. Eleyas said he lay on the ground to protect himself and when he got up, he saw his wife and daughter critically injured and many of his other relatives dead.

A second witness, Shamsuddin, 28, said he survived with his wife and newborn son. Also speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, he said that after the attack many lay dead and ”some people were shouting out from the pain of their injuries.”

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq