Burma admits troops were involved in killing Rohingya Muslims found in mass grave

Statement then described how villagers dug a pit and the men were ordered to enter it, where they were shot by the security forces.

Before Wednesday’s admission, Burma’s military had denied any wrongdoing in the crackdown that began in late August and sparked a mass exodus of civilians across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Late last year a Doctors Without Borders report said that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month alone.

The village of Inn Din previously featured in a chilling report by human rights group Amnesty International, which contains eyewitness accounts from seven villagers who described how vigilantes and the military looted and burned homes and shot people as they fled.

Satellite images obtained by the group show how an area of Rohingya homes were burned to the ground, while non-Rohingya areas appear to have been left untouched.

“This grisly admission is a sharp departure from the army’s policy of blanket denial of any wrongdoing,” said James Gomez, Amnesty’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, following the military’s announcement.

“However, it is only the tip of the iceberg and warrants serious independent investigation into what other atrocities were committed amid the ethnic cleansing campaign that has forced out more than 655,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State in August,” he added.

Amnesty previously accused the Burmese military of committing “crimes against humanity” after the human rights group documented its targeted campaign of violence, including the mass murder of civilians and the widespread rape of Rohingya women and girls.