29 August 2017•Update: 30 August 2017
By Canberk Yuksel
NEW YORK
The U.K. on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to convene regarding reports of mass civilian casualties after raids by Myanmar security forces against Rohingya insurgents.
“UK requests #UNSC meeting on situation in Burma tomorrow. Need to address long-term issues in #Rakhine, urge restraint by all parties,” Mattew Rycroft, U.K. ambassador to the UN, wrote on Twitter.
The meeting is expected to take place Wednesday. The Council has yet to make an official announcement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Myanmar to grant access to humanitarian agencies.
"The secretary-general is deeply concerned at the reports of civilians being killed during security operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state," Guterres' office said.
Deadly attacks on border posts broke out Friday that killed one soldier, 10 police officers, an immigration official and 77 militants, the Office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement.
Media reports emerged later that said security forces used disproportionate force and displaced thousands of Rohingya Muslim villagers, destroying homes with mortars and machine guns.
The region has seen simmering tensions between its Buddhist and Muslim populations since communal violence broke out in 2012.
A UN report found human rights violations, including crimes against humanity against Rohingya by security forces. The UN considers Rohingya the most persecuted minority in the world.
The global body documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and children -- brutal beatings and disappearances. Rohingya representatives have said approximately 400 people were slain during a security crackdown last October.
