WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday that the United States was “outraged” by reports that Myanmar soldiers rounded up and killed 11 people in the northwestern region of Sagaing.
The soldiers were accused of shooting the people and setting fire to their bodies. Charred remains were discovered in a village.
Video footage purporting to show the burned bodies was circulated on social media and images were published by some media including the Myanmar Now news portal.
“We are outraged by credible and sickening reports that the Burmese military bound 11 villagers, including children, in northwest Burma and burned them alive,” Price said.
Price repeated Washington’s call for the military to end the use of violence and to release those unjustly detained since generals seized power in a Feb. 1 coup.
The remains were found in a village in Sagaing, an area which has seen fierce fighting between security forces and militia set up by opponents of military rule, said residents, who said some of the victims were still alive when burned.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis; Editing by Dan Grebler and Cynthia Osterman)
