Rape of Rohingya denied:

Myanmar’s army chief denied his forces committed rape and other sexual abuses during a crackdown he ordered on Rohingya Muslims, as he addressed UN Security Council delegates in the capital Naypyidaw.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing heads an army accused of “ethnic cleansing” by the United Nations, including the widespread rape and murder of civilians in its “clearance operations” ostensibly targeting Rohingya militants.

Launched in August 2017, that campaign drove around 700,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, fleeing burnt villages and army atrocities.

Denied access to Myanmar in the months immediately after the crisis, a UN Security Council delegation is making a belated first visit to Myanmar to ratchet up pressure for a safe and dignified return of the Muslim minority.

Late Monday they met the army chief, who controls all security matters in the country without oversight from the elected government.

“The Tatmadaw (army) is always disciplined ... and takes action against anyone who breaks the law,” he told the delegates, according to a post late Monday on his official Facebook page.

Rohingya women and girls in Bangladesh have provided consistent accounts of sexual violence — reports verified by conflict monitors — but Min Aung Hlaing said his forces have “no such history of sexual abuse.” (AFP)