YANGON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Seven more Mro ethnic people have been killed and five others injured by terrorists during an attack on a village in Maungtaw, Myanmar's northern Rakhine state over the last three days, bringing the death toll from the violence rise to 110, the State Counselor's Office said Thursday.
About 400 of the "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)," which has been declared as an extremist terrorist group, stormed the Khon-Taing village of Mro ethnic people, killing the villagers and burning down their homes.
Three of the ethnic people were still missing, it said.
The ethnic villagers were fleeing to Buthidaung and Maungtaw and nearby police stations for refuge.
Myanmar Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Maj-Gen Aung Soe has pledged to bring those involved in terrorists attacks to court under criminal law.
Debating a motion in the House of Nationalities (Upper House) on Wednesday calling on the government to expose terrorists and to take special measures in order to ensure the continued existence of ethnic villages as the villagers fled their homes due to the attacks, Aung Soe said a total of 466 cases have been opened relating to attacks in Rakhine state during Oct. 9, 2016 and Aug, 16, 2017.
Of them, 116 cases have been judged at court while 147 cases are still pending, he added.
Earlier, seven members of a Hindu family and five Daingnet ethnic people had been killed in the attacks involving hundreds of extremist terrorists, but 55 other members of the Daingnet ethnic tribe were rescued by the security forces.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's National Security Advisor U Thaung Tun said on Wednesday that the government had sovereign right to defend itself against terrorist acts but would exercise maximum restraint to avoid collateral damage and casualties among innocent civilians.
He said violence in the state has driven thousands of ethnic Rakhine people to Buthidaung and Sittway, while women and children from the Muslim community have fled toward the Bangladesh border.
Extremist terrorists launched renewed attacks on 30 police outposts in northern Rakhine in the early hours on Aug. 25, killing 12 security personnel and one immigration officer. Some 77 terrorists were killed and two captured.
The assaults continued until now, prompting a military sweep against the terrorists.
