A Myanmar soldier at the border area. (Source: AFP/Getty Images)
The US Treasury Department on August 17 announced to sanction four commanders and two military units of Myanmar, accusing them of being related to human rights abuse cases in the country.
In a press release, the department said the targeted commanders were from Burmese military and Border Guard Police (BGP).
Together with the 33rd Light Infantry Division (LID) and the 99th LID, the commanders were punished over the alleged involvement in ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State and "other widespread human rights abuses" in Kachin and Shan States.
As a result of these actions, any property, or interest in property, of those designated within US jurisdiction is blocked.
Additionally, US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the blocked persons, including entities 50 percent or more owned by the designated persons.
Last June, the European Union and Canada also imposed sanctions on seven senior military officials from Myanmar over human rights violations against Myanmar's Rohingya population in Rakhine State.
About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh following a meticulous campaign by the security forces since August 2017.
VNA
