- Published: 4/06/2012 at 01:48 AM
- Online new
At least nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in
western Myanmar on Sunday, an official said, in an apparent sectarian
attack in a region affected by simmering religious tensions.
Fishermen standing by their boats on the island of Shweri Chai in
the Bay of Bengal, off the western city of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine
State, in April 2012. At least nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine
residents in western Myanmar on Sunday, an official said, in an
apparent sectarian attack in a region affected by simmering religious
tensions.
"We heard nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in
Taunggote town this evening. We do not know the details yet," a
government official told AFP, adding that some of the victims were
thought to be Muslims visiting Rakhine State from central Myanmar.
Local residents, speaking to AFP by phone, said the recent rape and
murder of an ethnic Rakhine girl had stirred sectarian suspicions in
the area. AFP was unable to reach local police to confirm details of
that case.
One man from the village where the attack took place said a mob of
ethnic Rakhines -- who are mostly Buddhist -- set upon a bus that they
believed was carrying those responsible for the murder-rape.
"More than a hundred people beat and killed those people. The
residents even torched the bus," he said, adding that the police arrived
but were unable to control the baying crowd.
"There are not many people at the scene now, only dead bodies on
the road. The senior town residents are trying to comfort the people,"
the man added.
Another local man also told AFP that the crowd murdered the
passengers in an attempt to capture the supposed killers of the girl.
Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims occur periodically in Myanmar
and Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, is a flashpoint for
tensions.
"We all have a duty to control the situation, no matter who is
involved or which religion they are," said Aye Maung, an MP for the
Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.
"We all are living here together. We, as well as the government, have the duty to control it," he told AFP.
Buddhists make up some 89 percent of the population of Myanmar, with Muslims officially representing four percent.
In February 2001, the then-ruling junta declared a curfew in the
Rakhine State capital city Sittwe after violent riots broke out between
Muslims and Buddhists.
Pockets of sectarian unrest have occasionally broken out in other parts of the country.
Buddhists in Rakhine have grown to resent Muslims that have moved
into their relatively affluent state from Bangladesh, who have long
crossed into Myanmar's border provinces seeking seasonal work.
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