US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said today he had spoken with Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi and that she said she was working to get aid to the Rohingya Muslim areas in the Southeast Asian nation that was affected by violence.

Suu Kyi "agreed with the need for immediate and improved access to humanitarian assistance to the region, particularly by the International Red Cross, and she conveyed that she is working toward that end," McConnell, a Republican, said on the Senate floor.

He said Suu Kyi, the de facto head of the Myanmar government, said violations of human rights would need to be addressed.

Attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts last month triggered an army operation that has killed more than 400 people, destroyed over 6,800 houses and sent nearly 400,000 minority Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.

- Reuters

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