Rohingya refugee Momtaz Begum, 30, poses for a photograph at Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh Oct 19, 2017. Begum told how soldiers came to her village demanding valuables. "I told them I was poor and had nothing. One of them started beating me saying, 'If you have no money, then we will kill you.'" After beating her, they locked her inside her house and set the roof on fire. She escaped to find her three sons dead and her daughter beaten and bleeding. (Reuters photo)
WASHINGTON: The United States called the Myanmar military operation against the Rohingya population "ethnic cleansing" on Wednesday and said it would consider targeted sanctions against those responsible, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
Referring to "horrendous atrocities" that have occurred, Tillerson said, "After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya."
