Myanmar rejects criticism

A Myanmar state commission probing allegations the military has killed, tortured and raped Rohingya Muslims yesterday rejected accusations, saying it was focused on the "truth" and not pleasing the UN.

Last week the United Nations' human rights office said Myanmar's military had likely killed hundreds of Rohingya during a continuing crackdown in a "calculated policy of terror" against the Muslim minority.

Almost 70,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the army launched "clearance operations" four months ago to find Rohingya militants they accused of carrying out deadly raids on police border posts.

The report by the UN's rights body OHCHR said the accounts of torture, murder and gang-rape at the hands of security forces were so severe they may amount to ethnic cleansing.

Among the brutal testimonies published were accounts of children butchered with knives while their mothers were raped by security forces.

Meanwhile, the United States' State Department said on Monday said it  is "deeply troubled" by the findings of the UN report.

"We are deeply troubled by the findings," Adams said, referring to the Feb. 3 report from the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

For months Myanmar dismissed similar testimony gathered by foreign media and rights groups and curtailed access to the region.

But following last week's UN report a spokesman for Myanmar's president said the government was concerned by the "extremely serious allegations" and would investigate them through the Rakhine commission.

Critics have rejected the state-appointed body, which is led by retired general and Vice President Myint Swe and includes no Muslims, as toothless and lacking in credibility.

Last month it issued an interim report denying that troops had carried out a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya and saying it had found "insufficient evidence" of rape.

There are more than a million Rohingya in Rakhine state, where they are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and forced to live in conditions akin to apartheid.