"Myanmar has submitted its first report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), detailing what it has done to protect the minority Rohingya from genocide. The Hague-based court issued a provisional order in January, asking Myanmar to safeguard the mostly Muslim group in western Rakhine state as part of "provisional measures" at the start of a trial expected to take years. More: UN envoy calls for investigation into 'possible war crimes' in Myanmar Eight killed in Myanmar's troubled western state of Rakhine Myanmar to release 25,000 prisoners to mark New Year festival The top UN court agreed last year to consider a case brought by The Gambia alleging that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya, an accusation vigorously denied by the government. Myanmar's military in August 2017 launched what it called a "clearance operation" in Rakhine state in response to an attack by a Rohingya armed group. The crackdown forced more than 730,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to widespread accusations that security forces committed mass murder, gang rape, torture and arson. A foreign ministry official told Turkey's Anadolu news agency the report submitted on Saturday was based on three directives issued by President Win Myint's office in April. It is unclear if the court will make the report public. Speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, the official said the president ordered the regional government and military not to remove or destroy evidence of a genocide. He also instructed them to prevent genocidal acts as well as incitement and hate speech against the Rohingya. "What I know is that the report was based on what we have done and what we are doing regarding these three directives," said the official..."