Rohingya insurgents say 10 found in Myanmar grave were 'innocent civilians'

Rohingya Muslim insurgents saidSaturday that 10Rohingya found in a mass grave in Myanmar'stroubled Rakhine state last month were "innocent civilians,"andnot members of their group.

Myanmar's military said earlier this weekits soldiers hadkilled 10 captured Muslim "terrorists" during insurgent attacksat the beginning of September, after Buddhist villagers hadforced the captured men into a grave the villagers had dug.

It was a rare acknowledgment of wrongdoing by the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma, during its operations in the western state of Rakhine.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), whose raidsagainst security posts starting last August sparked sweepingmilitary operations in the Muslim-majority northern part ofRakhine, said it "wholeheartedly welcomes the admission" of"war crimes" by the "Burmese terrorist army."

"We hereby declare that these 10innocent Rohingyacivilians found in the said mass grave in Inn Din Village Tractwere neither ARSA nor had any association with ARSA", the groupsaid in a statement on Twitter.

A Myanmar government spokespersonsaid in response to ARSA'sstatement that sometimes "terrorists and villagers were allied"in attacks" against security forces.

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"We have already said it is very difficult to segregate whois a terrorist and who are innocent villagers," spokesman ZawHtay said.

"There will be an ongoing investigating processwhether they are members of ARSA or not."

The Myanmar military did not immediately respond to requestsfor comment.

'A new step for our country'

Myanmar's civilian leader,Aung San Suu Kyi, said Friday itwas "positive"that the country'smilitary was takingresponsibility for the actions of troops.

"It is a new step for our country,"she told a joint newsconference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Myanmar'scapital of Naypyitaw.

"I see it that way because a country needs to takeresponsibility for the rule of law in the country, and this isthe first step on the road of taking responsibility and it is apositive thing,"she said, according to a transcript of the newsconference posted on her Facebook page.

On Dec. 18, the military announced a mass grave containing10 bodies had been found at the coastal village of Inn Din,
about 50 kilometresnorth of the state capital Sittwe. Thearmy appointed a senior officer to investigate.

A statement from the military on Wednesday said itsinvestigation had found that members of the security forces hadtaken part in the killing, and action would be taken againstthem.

The Rohingya crisis erupted after Rohingya insurgent attackson security posts on Aug. 25 in Rakhine triggered a fiercemilitary response that the United Nations denounced as ethniccleansing.

Myanmar denies ethnic cleansing, saying its security forceshad mounted legitimate counter-insurgency clearance operations.