Rights group says Myanmar army building on razed villages

BANGKOK – Amnesty International says Myanmar's military is building installations on land in villages that had been occupied by Muslim Rohingya who fled to neighboring Bangladesh after their homes were burned down in what analysts charge was a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the authorities.

The London-based rights group said Monday that eyewitness testimony and analysis of satellite images established that Myanmar's Rakhine state is being militarized at an alarming pace with the construction of army bases, helipads and roads built in villages that had been burned and bulldozed.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay says the bulldozing is mainly to prepare burned areas for resettlement and reconstruction. The government has denied burning down villages to drive out the Rohingya.