Action will be taken against 10 members of Myanmar’s security forces in connection with the killing of captured Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, a government spokesman has said.

A report published by the Reuters news agency last week laid out events that led up to the killing of 10 Rohingya men in the northern Rakhine village of Inn Din. They were buried in a mass grave after being hacked to death or shot by Buddhist neighbours and soldiers.

A Myanmar government spokesman, Zaw Htay, said that “action according to the law” would be taken against seven soldiers, three members of the police force and six villagers as part of an army investigation.

The arrests were “not because of Reuters news. The investigation was being conducted even before Reuters news,” he said, adding that he was unable to specify what action would be taken against the 16 people.

On 10 January, the military said the 10 Rohingya men belonged to a group of 200 “terrorists” who had attacked security forces. Buddhist villagers attacked some of them with swords and soldiers shot the others dead, the military said, adding that it would take action against those involved.

The military’s version of events is contradicted by accounts given by Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslim witnesses.

Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Show all 15 1 /15 Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Badiul Alam, 52, appointed as the manager of one grouping of refugees, shows the rifle-butt injury he sustained during his flight from Myanmar Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Abdur Rahim, 50, fled Myanmar with his family of seven. It took a month for them to walk to Bangladesh, carrying all their possessions on their shoulders. They haven’t yet found a place to put down their belongings after a gruelling journey Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Various refugee camps – Kutupalong, Balukhali and Moinerghona – have merged into one vast sprawl spread over many muddy hills that just a few months ago were a rolling green nature reserve Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps A Red Cross aid-worker supervises an aid distribution point on the edge of the Moinerghona camp, saying they have never known refugees anywhere in the world stand so patiently in line in such heat to be registered and receive aid without any tension or anger Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Last week the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal to return the Rohingya to Rakhine. But many worry that they will face further reprisals if they return, and there was no mention of what would happen to those who refused to go back Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps A quiet calm pervades the camps. Is it relief at being free from fear, or do feelings about the horrors witnessed remain suppressed? Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps The aid response is focused on providing food, water and shelter for people who fled with nothing Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps The effort is now well-organised and trucks delivering supplies move up and down the main road between Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf all day long Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Only men are in the aid queue, as separate queues are often set up for men and women. Sixty-five-year-old Nur Ahmed wears his ID card which shows he has been formally registered to receive aid Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Ajmin Ara, 70, wanders around disorientated. She has lost her entire family and fled to Bangladesh alone; she is painfully thin/skeletal and very weak, but is receiving medical care from a small clinic set up to the side of the aid queue Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps It’s estimated that 620,000 Rohingya people have fled violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in the last three months. Many say they were doing their morning prayers or cooking food when their villages were attacked and they fled, often with only the clothes they were wearing Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Nur Asha, 47, sits quietly in the crowd until she can no longer restrain herself and her story comes out in a torrent: how she fled with her son when the military attacked her village but doesn’t know where her other relatives are, how throats were slashed, how children were thrown into fires, how rice paddy fields were filled with bodies left for the dogs to eat Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Mohammed Sayed, 24, fled Myanmar about a month ago with his parents, wife and sister after their home was burnt down and many people in their village were killed Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Children flock around the queue and one boy has made a hat from an empty medicine package to shield himself from the heat, but other boys playing nearby tease him and knock it off his head and soon it is ripped to pieces Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Children who have fled with nothing make toy cars from empty bottles and kites from plastic bags. Despite the horrors they will have witnessed, children still laugh and play for the camera

Buddhist villagers reported no attack by a large number of insurgents on security forces in Inn Din, and Rohingya witnesses said that soldiers plucked the 10 from among hundreds of men, women and children who had sought safety on a nearby beach.

Nearly 690,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state and crossed into southern Bangladesh since August, when attacks on security posts by insurgents triggered a military crackdown that the United Nations has said may amount to genocide.

The Reuters investigation of the Inn Din massacre was what prompted the arrest of two of the news agency’s reporters. Myanmar citizens Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were detained on 12 December for allegedly obtaining confidential documents. The police has said two police officers were also arrested.

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Prosecutors are seeking to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under Myanmar’s official secrets act, which dates back to the time of colonial British rule and carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence.

Asked about the evidence Reuters had uncovered about the massacre the government spokesman said on Thursday, before publication of the Reuters report: “We are not denying the allegations about violations of human rights. And we are not giving blanket denials.” If there was “strong and reliable primary evidence” of abuses, the government would investigate, he said.

There has been no official comment from the government following the publication of the report.

It is understood that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson raised the case of the two journalists during a meeting with the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Sunday.

The United States and the United Nations have called the military campaign against the Rohingya “ethnic cleansing”. Myanmar denies ethnic cleansing and says its security forces mounted legitimate counter-insurgency clearance operations.