US condemns attack by Myanmar military that killed dozens, including two aid workers

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday condemned attacks by the Myanmar military last week that killed at least 35 people, including women, children and two staff members of the international aid organization Save the Children.

Blinken said the U.S. is “alarmed by the military regime’s brutality” and called for the international community to end the sale of arms and dual use technology to the military, which in February ousted the democratically-elected government of Myanmar — also known as Burma — in a coup. 

“The targeting of innocent people and humanitarian actors is unacceptable, and the military’s widespread atrocities against the people of Burma underscore the urgency of holding its members accountable,” Blinken said in a statement. 

State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Tuesday said the U.S. echoed an appeal by the United Nations special envoy for Myanmar to institute a “New Year’s cease-fire” throughout the south Asian country. 

“The international community must also do more to advance this goal and help prevent the recurrence of atrocities in Burma,” Price said in a briefing with reporters.

Save the Children on Tuesday confirmed that two of their staff members were among at least 35 dead, burnt bodies found in Myanmar following a Dec. 24 attack by the Myanmar military in Kayah State, in the east of the country.

The identities of the two staff members are being withheld for security reasons, but both were described by the international aid group as new fathers. One, age 32, had a 10-month-old son, while the other, age 28, had a three-month-old daughter. 

Save the Children said the staff members were on their way back to the office after working on a humanitarian response in a nearby community when they were caught up in the attack. The aid group said that the military forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed dozens and burned the bodies. 

The Myanmar military reportedly said in a statement that it had opened fire on “terrorists” after receiving fire from vehicles that had not stopped for inspection. There was no mention of the burning of vehicles or bodies. 

Inger Ashing, chief executive of Save the Children, said that investigations “into the nature of the incident are ongoing.”  

“Violence against innocent civilians including aid workers is intolerable, and this senseless attack is a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” Ashing said in a statement. 

“We are shaken by the violence carried out against civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar.”

Ashling called for the U.N. Security Council to convene a meeting “as soon as possible” to lay out steps to enforce accountability for the attack, and echoed calls for an arms embargo, including a focus on limiting airstrikes, as well as a meeting by the Association of South East Asian Nations to push for a cessation of violence in Myanmar. 

“These steps are urgently required to protect children and humanitarian aid workers,” Ashling continued.

“Our organization is in a state of grief for two beloved, irreplaceable colleagues whose deaths represent a loss for the children of Kayah and Myanmar.”

Myanmar’s military has instituted a brutal crackdown on civil society since it took power in February, with the detention of political leaders and opponents, and reports of torture and massacres.

The U.S. has instituted dozens of sanctions against military officials, their families and entities that benefit the military in an effort to address human rights abuses, the crackdown on democratic institutions and the campaigns of violence and massacres against the Burmese people, including children and those of minority ethnic groups.