UN alarmed by reports of casualties in airstrikes

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by reports that military airstrikes in Myanmar, including on Monday in Minbya township, have killed and injured many civilians, a UN spokesman said.

"The expansion of conflict in Rakhine State is driving displacement and exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities and discrimination," the spokesman said. "The Secretary-General calls on all parties to prevent further incitement of communal tensions."

Rohingyas have faced persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades and nearly a million of them live in crammed camps in neighbouring Bangladesh's border district of Cox's Bazar. Most fled a military crackdown in 2017.