ANKARA (AA) - March 26, 2013 – The death toll from sectarian violence caused by attacks from Buddhists to Rohingya Muslims has risen to 40 in Meikhtila, Myanmar's predominatly Buddhist town.
The death toll from the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar has risen to 40 from 32, as the government struggles to deal with rising ethnic tensions, The New Light Newspaper of Myanmar reported on Tuesday.
President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in central Myanmar on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst hit city, Meikhtila, where 32 people killed and 10,000 mostly Muslim residents were displaced.
Sein vowed on Monday "to take action against those who led the violence and got involved in it and to expose those who flamed the conflict under the pretext of religion," the New Light newspaper reported.
However, since Wednesday March 20, many Muslims were killed, at least 14 mosques with hundreds of Muslim homes were destroyed, shops damaged and looted, and more than 20,000 displaced in the central Burma town of Meikhtila and around the airport area of Naypyitaw.
-"Buddhist monks hunting Muslims"-
A press release by Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) on March 23, the largest organization representing the Rohingya Muslims, stated "Since Wednesday March 20, many Muslims were killed, at least 14 mosques with hundreds of Muslim homes were destroyed, shops damaged and looted, and more than 20,000 displaced in Meiktila and around the airport area of capital Naypyidaw.
A lot of Muslim residents have fled their homes. Extremist Buddhist mobs with Buddhist monks armed with sticks and lethal weapons are prowling the streets and hunting the Muslims."
-Sectarian and ethnic tensions are not new in Myanmar-
Muslims represent about four percent of Myanmar-s population. The flare-up of violence is the biggest conflict since Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims clashed in Arakan (Rakhine) state last year, leaving at least 200 people dead and more than 110,000 homeless, with many fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
The latest bloodshed shows that violence against Muslims has spread from Rakhine to the other parts of Myanmar.
About one third of the population is comprised of ethnic minorities that practise Chistianity or animism, and most have waged wars against the government to get autonomy.
