Myanmar is accused of waging a crackdown in Rakhine state that forced 700,000 to flee that the UN and major western powers have said amounts to "ethnic cleansing", reports agencies.
Its leaders have come under fire for taking little punitive action against the military, which has maintained its troops were responding to attacks by Rohingya militants.
But the military said late Monday in a Facebook post that Major General Maung Maung Soe, the former head of the western command in Rakhine, had been "purged" for poor performance.
The announcement came after the EU said he was among seven security officials hit with travel bans and asset freezes, but Myanmar did not link his sacking to the new sanctions.
The Facebook post said Maung Maung Soe was first reassigned last November, and that his removal from his position in the western command was to "inspect his responsibility over his weakness while working for Rakhine state stability".
Maung Maung Soe was also the target of US sanctions last year over the Rohingya crisis.
The statement added that Lieutenant General Aung Kyaw Zaw -- commander of the bureau of special operations and also on the EU list -- was permitted to resign in May for health reasons and "weakness in serving duty".
Canada said Monday it was also imposing sanctions against the same seven figures named by the European Union.
Meanwhile, the United States expressed its strong support to Canadian and European Union (EU) sanctions on seven senior Myanmar military officials.
The officials were behind the brutal military actions to drive out ethnic minority Rohingyas from the country.
"We strongly support these actions," said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert in a press statement on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's military said it sacked a top general who was named in fresh EU sanctions against security officials accused of serious rights violations in the Rohingya crisis, including killings and sexual violence
The US Department of State is working closely with their allies and partners to promote accountability for those responsible for the ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State, and for serious human rights abuses against members of other minority groups, including in Kachin and Shan States, said the spokesperson.
"To that end, we have taken a number of steps, including: ceasing issuance of visas to current and former senior leaders of the Burmese military; assessing that there is credible information implicating all military units and officers involved in operations in northern Rakhine State, as well as their full chain of command," the statement reads.
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