Bangkok [Thailand], December 29 (ANI): UNICEF on Tuesday said that it is shocked and saddened by the reported killing and burning of at least 35 people, including four children and two staff members of the humanitarian organisation Save the Children, in Kayah State in Eastern Myanmar, on 24 December.

Credible reports suggest that four children were killed in the attack, including two 17-year-old boys, a teenage girl and a child of approximately 5-6 years of age, of indeterminate gender, UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday.

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The two Save the Children staff members, whose deaths were confirmed today, were killed while returning to Save the Children's Loikaw office after responding to humanitarian needs in a nearby community, the statement added.

"UNICEF strongly condemns this attack on civilians, children and humanitarian workers," said Debora Comini, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific.

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The protection of civilians, and particularly children and humanitarian workers, must be treated as a priority during times of conflict, in accordance with international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Myanmar is a signatory, the organisation said.

UNICEF called for urgent action to investigate this deplorable incident and to hold those responsible to account. "We offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to our colleagues at Save the Children," said the UNICEF. (ANI)

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