Rohingya flee carnage

shah porir dwip (Bangladesh) - The World Food Programme has suspended food aid in Myanmar's violence-scorched Rakhine state, as the humanitarian situation deteriorates with a surging death toll and tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims on the move.

The UN's refugee agency said some 60,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees had poured into Bangladesh since the latest round of fighting broke out eight days ago. The military said nearly 400 people, most of them insurgents, have died in armed clashes.

"There is a genocide there," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul.

"All WFP food assistance operations in Rakhine State have been suspended due to insecurity... affecting 250,000 internally displaced and other most vulnerable populations," the WFP said in a statement.

Refugees who had arrived at the Bangladeshi fishing village of Shah Porir Dwip described bombs exploding and Rohingyas being burned alive.

"We fled to Bangladesh to save our lives," said a man who only gave his first name as Karim. "The military and extremist Rakhine are burning us, killing us, setting our village on fire."

"The military destroyed everything. After killing some Rohingya, the military burned their houses and shops."

Source: Khaleej Times