Two people died and several mosques were destroyed in central Myanmar, police said on Thursday, in the worst riots since Buddhist-Muslim clashes rocked western Rakhine state last year.
Around 200 people fought in the streets after an argument in a Muslim-owned gold shop turned violent in the town of Meiktila on Thursday, according to a post on Myanmar Police Force’s Facebook page. The dead, who included a Buddhist monk, died after suffering severe burns, it said.
Police imposed a curfew overnight to control the situation after mobs set fire to several mosques.
‘About three mosques were destroyed,’ a local police officer told AFP by telephone, but added that calm had since been restored.
The unrest comes amid tensions between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, where communal conflict in Rakhine has left 180 dead.
Around 200 people fought in the streets after an argument in a Muslim-owned gold shop turned violent in the town of Meiktila on Thursday, according to a post on Myanmar Police Force’s Facebook page. The dead, who included a Buddhist monk, died after suffering severe burns, it said.
Police imposed a curfew overnight to control the situation after mobs set fire to several mosques.
‘About three mosques were destroyed,’ a local police officer told AFP by telephone, but added that calm had since been restored.
The unrest comes amid tensions between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, where communal conflict in Rakhine has left 180 dead.