Authorities restored order in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region on Sunday after a Buddhist mob set fire to nearly two dozen Muslim-owned buildings and attacked rescue workers in the latest widening of sectarian violence in the former military-run state.
Reuters news agency reported that about 1,000 Buddhists, some carrying sticks and swords, attacked Muslim villagers in remote Htan Kone late on Saturday, destroying at least 20 homes and shops.
Police and soldiers arrived later and fired into the air to disperse the crowd, they said.
The violence in the rugged region about 665 km (410 miles) from the commercial capital, Yangon, shows how far anti-Muslim anger has spread in the Buddhist-dominated country following spasms of unrest in northeastern Lashio in May, central Meikhtila in March and western Rakhine State last year.
The Ministry of Information said the unrest followed the attempted rape of a Buddhist woman by a Muslim man on Saturday. After the man was detained, about 150 villagers and three Buddhist monks gathered at the police station, demanding he be handed over to them, it said.
When the police refused, the mob rioted, destroying Muslim homes, throwing rocks at police and attacking firemen before authorities restored order by 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, the ministry said.
Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have threatened to undermine political and economic reforms the government initiated two years ago after half a century of military rule.
More than 200 people have been killed since June last year and 140,000 displaced. The vast majority of victims have been Muslim.
Sources
Image: Reuters
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