More than 100 homes belonging to Muslims in central Myanmar were raided during sectarian violence, a local police official said.
Anti-Muslim riots spread to Muslim townships of Monyo and Padigon, about 100 miles north of Rangoon. A Monyo police officer told The Irrawaddy, a Thai newspaper covering Myanmary, that overnight clashes were spreading but there were no deaths reported.
“A mosque was totally destroyed and nearly 100 Muslim-owned houses were ransacked,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
Myanmar’s government imposed curfews and martial law over parts of the country as violence between Muslims and Buddhists erupted last week. The United Nations estimates at least 12,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
A U.N. genocide prevention official said this week he was concerned about the religious violence in Myanmar. Similar conflicts erupted last year in Rakhine.
Myanmar earned international praise for a series of political reforms that began with general elections in 2010. Human Rights Watch this week said those reforms were in jeopardy because of the religious violence.
Source: UPI