The United Nations has confirmed that at least 48 Muslims appear to have been killed when Buddhist mobs attacked a village in an isolated corner of western Myanmar, violence that has been vehemently denied by the government since it was first reported by The Associated Press just over a week ago.
Presidential spokesman Ye Htut said he "strongly objects" to the UN claims and called its information and figures "totally wrong."
A statement issued today by Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said accounts of the events issued by news organizations and international agencies were "based on unjustified conclusions drawing from unverified information," and would lead to misunderstandings among ethnic communities in the area.
It cautioned journalists and diplomats that "releasing unverified information" was tantamount to interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, has been grappling with sectarian violence since June 2012.
The incident in Du Chee Yar Tan, a village in northern Rakhine state, appears to be the deadliest in a year, and would bring the total number of mostly Muslims killed in violence nationwide to more than 280. Another 250,000 people have fled their homes.
Northern Rakhine home to 80 percent of the country's 1 million long-persecuted Muslim Rohingya population is off-limits to foreign journalists and humanitarian aid workers have limited access, adding to the difficulties of confirming details about the violence. Attacks began Jan. 9 and peaked in the early hours of Jan. 14, according to residents.
Buddhist Rakhine mobs, seeking retaliation for the abduction and killing of a police officer by Rohingya villagers, entered under the cloak of darkness with knives, sticks and guns and went on a killing spree, residents in the area told the AP on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. Many of the victims were women and children who were hacked to death by the mobs, they said.
The foreign ministry statement made no mention of vigilante attacks on Rohingya. It said police had two confrontations with mobs numbering 100 and 500 respectively, but caused no civilian injuries or deaths.
The humanitarian aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said it has treated 22 patients, some with wounds. It appealed to the government for safe access to the affected people, many of whom are still in hiding.
