October 14, 2016

New fears of communal violence in Myanmar

NINE police officers were killed early on October 9th in a series of apparently co-ordinated attacks on border-guard posts in the troubled state of Rakhine in Myanmar’s west. The attackers were armed with knives, slingshots and only a few guns—and reportedly made off with dozens more guns and thousands of bullets. The Buddhist majority in Rakhine has long oppressed the state’s Muslim Rohingyas. Now the victims may be starting to fight back.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility, but police say the attackers—at least two of whom were captured and eight killed—were Rohingyas. One local official blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, a militant group that has been dormant for decades. The two who were detained reportedly told authorities that they planned the raids with fellow locals. (Courtesy of economist.com)

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