30 killed as Myanmar’s army intensifies crackdown on Muslims

Myanmar’s forces have killed dozens of Rohinya Muslims in its latest wave of crackdown on the country’s most persecuted minority in western Rakhine State.

The military said in a statement on Monday that about 30 members of what it called a Rohingya Muslim “militant group” during clashes that erupted in the border town of Maungdaw over the weekend.

Authorities have blocked access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

Northern Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since an alleged attack on the country’s border guards on October 9 left nine police officers dead, with the government accusing Rohingyas of being behind the assault.

Soldiers have killed scores and arrested many more in their hunt for the alleged attackers.

According to a Reuters estimate, the latest fatalities brought the total number of Rohnigya Muslims killed since October 9 to 60.

Rakhine, home to around one million Rohingya Muslims, has been the scene of communal violence at the hands of Buddhist extremists since 2012.

Hundreds of people have been killed, while tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes and live in squalid camps in dire situations in Myanmar and other countries in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

According to the UN, Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.


In this file photo, Rohingya children gather at a camp for Muslim refugees, north of Sittwe, western Rakhine State, Myanmar. (By AP)
The government denies full citizenship to 1.1 million-strong Rohingya population, branding them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even as many trace their lineage in Myanmar back generations.

There have been numerous accounts by eyewitnesses of summary executions, rapes and arson attacks against houses by security forces.

Human Rights Watch said Sunday that high-definition satellite images showed a widespread fire-related destruction of Rohingya villages, adding the destruction was worse than initially feared.

The government and the army have rejected the accusations, saying they have simply been conducting a “clearance operation” in the region.

Myanmar Buddhists Ransack Mosque As Religious Violence Flares

A mob of around 200 Buddhists rampaged through the area following an argument between neighbours over the building of a Muslim school. (AFP Photo)

BAGO, MYANMAR:  Scores of Buddhists ransacked a mosque in central Myanmar forcing Muslims to seek refuge overnight in a police station after a dispute between neighbours spilled into religious violence, officials and residents said today.

Bouts of anti-Muslim violence have left scores dead across the country since 2012 and the febrile atmosphere poses serious challenges for Aung San Suu Kyi's new government.

The violence erupted on Thursday afternoon as a mob of around 200 Buddhists rampaged through a Muslim area of Thuye Tha Mein village in Bago province following an argument between neighbours over the building of a Muslim school.

"It started when a Muslim man and a Buddhist women started to argue and then people came to fight him," Hla Tint, the village administrator, told AFP.

"Parts of the mosque were destroyed... they also destroyed the fence of the Muslim cemetery," he added.

Around 70 Muslims, including children, sought shelter in a police station overnight on Thursday, he said, adding there were no serious injuries and peace had been restored.

Police and the secretary of the mosque confirmed the damage, while a Muslim resident told AFP his community of around 150 people is now living in fear.

"We had to hide as some people were threatening to kill Muslims. The situation has never been like this before," Tin Shwe OO, 29, told AFP, adding his family stayed at the small police station overnight.

"I do not dare to stay at my house. For the safety of my family, I want to stay somewhere else for about a week or so."

Outbreaks of deadly violence have roiled the country threatening to unpick democratic gains since the army began loosening its stranglehold on the country in 2011.

The worst violence struck central Myanmar and western Rakhine State which is home to the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, tens of thousands of whom still languish in displacement camps after rioting.

Buddhist nationalists vigorously oppose moves to recognise the Rohingya as an official minority group, instead labelling them "Bengali"  shorthand for illegal migrants from the border with Bangladesh.

Democracy champion Suu Kyi, who is currently visiting Thailand, has come under fire for failing to speak up for the Rohingya -- although she recently caused surprise by using the incendiary term during a visit to Myanmar by America's top diplomat.

Religious tensions pose a unique challenge to the new government and to Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate once garlanded for her fight for rights for all.

Her party is dominated by ethnic Bamar Buddhists and did not field any Muslim MPs in the election last year that drove it to power.

Hardline monks (known as the Ma Ba Tha) are accused of stoking violence and tensions with hate speech.