Myanmar to probe Rohingya beating video

Nay Pyi Taw, Jan 2 (IANS) Myanmar authorities said they will investigate a video which appears to show police beating members of the Rohingya minority, a media report said on Monday.

The government said the footage was filmed in November 2016 as police conducted a "clearance operation" in Maungdaw after two police officers were shot, one fatally, the BBC reported.

The video shows a large group of villagers sitting in lines in front of police officers. One officer can be seen beating one man, while another kicks him in the face. Other men are then also kicked or hit.

The State Counsellor's Office Information Committee on Monday said action would be taken against officers who violated police force rules.

Scores of people have been killed in military operations in Rakhine state, launched after armed militants attacked border posts in Maungdaw on October 9, 2016, killing nine policemen.

The state is closed to journalists and investigators, making it difficult to independently verify allegations of rape, massacres and the burning and looting of villages at the hands of the military, the BBC said.

The estimated one million Muslim Rohingya are seen by many in mainly Buddhist Myanmar as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

They are denied citizenship by the government despite many having lived there for generations.

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented Rohingya are estimated to live in Bangladesh, having fled Myanmar.