Rohingya activists fear civilians could be targeted and thousands forced to leave their homes after a rebel group announced plans to attack Maungdaw, a town home to a large Muslim minority population in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.
"With the Myanmar military base located outside the town and a warning from the Arakan Army just before an important religious festival on Tuesday, they feel specifically targeted," he told the ABC. "We see clear and present risks of a serious expansion of violence as the battle for neighbouring Maungdaw town has begun," a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
Wai Wai Nu fears the impending attack on the Rohingya is part of an effort to systematically "erase" the Rohingya.Spokesperson Liz Throssell of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights cited the burning of Buthidaung, air strikes, reports of shootings at unarmed fleeing villagers, and beheadings as part of the violence in the northern part of Rakhine in recent weeks.