Anti-Muslim riots haunt shattered Myanmar city of Meiktila
9 July 2013 10:41 PM GMT
The thugs ordered Kyaw not to look as they killed his classmates, but the terrified teenager still caught glimpses of the merciless beatings as a wave of anti-Muslim killing engulfed his school town in central Myanmar, leaving dozens dead.
‘They used steel chains, sticks and knives... there were hundreds of people. They beat anyone who tried to look at them,’ the 16-year-old told AFP.
Kyaw’s small madrasa (Islamic school) on the outskirts of Meiktila town was razed during sectarian bloodshed in March that triggered an outbreak of Buddhist-Muslim violence across the country.
Officially 44 people were killed — although some fear the toll was much higher — and thousands were left homeless.
Kyaw, whose name AFP changed to protect his identity, escaped serious injury, but his school friends — who he saw as ‘brothers’ — were not so fortunate.
‘Five students from my class were killed,’ he said, with a quiet precision belying his haunted expression. 20 March began as usual for the students, who traded jokes as they gathered in the school’s mosque.Â
‘They used steel chains, sticks and knives... there were hundreds of people. They beat anyone who tried to look at them,’ the 16-year-old told AFP.
Kyaw’s small madrasa (Islamic school) on the outskirts of Meiktila town was razed during sectarian bloodshed in March that triggered an outbreak of Buddhist-Muslim violence across the country.
Officially 44 people were killed — although some fear the toll was much higher — and thousands were left homeless.
Kyaw, whose name AFP changed to protect his identity, escaped serious injury, but his school friends — who he saw as ‘brothers’ — were not so fortunate.
‘Five students from my class were killed,’ he said, with a quiet precision belying his haunted expression. 20 March began as usual for the students, who traded jokes as they gathered in the school’s mosque.Â
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