YANGON • A Myanmar military offensive against ethnic rebels in the country's east has uprooted more than 10,000 people, rights groups said, accusing the army of bombing schools and Buddhist temples, firing on civilians and raping women.

Since Oct 6, the army has shelled six villages, shot and injured three people, and fired on 17 villagers who are now missing, according to activists in Shan state.

The Shan Human Rights Foundation has documented eight cases of sexual violence since April, including a 32-year-old woman gang- raped by 10 soldiers on Nov 5 while her husband was tied up under their farm hut in Ke See township.

"We are very concerned that there has been no public condemnation by the international community about these war crimes and these attacks on civilians," rights activist Charm Tong told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The Myanmar government did not respond to requests for comment about the fighting in Shan state.

REUTERS