UN human rights office decries beheadings, other violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office has warned of “frightening and disturbing reports” about the impact of new violence in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine and new attacks on Rohingya civilians by the army and an ethnic armed group fighting it. Spokesperson Liz Throssell of the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights cited the burning of the town of Buthidaung, as well as air strikes, reports of shootings at unarmed fleeing villagers, beheadings and disappearances as part of the violence in recent weeks. She said tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days amid fighting in Buthidaung. She cited evidence from satellite images, testimonies and online video indicating that the town has been largely burned.