YANGON, Oct 24: Myanmar’s military government has imposed a curfew in three cities to deter clashes between Muslims and Buddhists, government officials said on Wednesday.
“It is true that dusk to dawn curfew was imposed in Pyi, Bago, and Hinthada recently to prevent religious riots after brawls between some Buddhist monks and Muslims,” a Myanmar government spokesman told Reuters.
“Local authorities and religious leaders have now straightened out the problem and the situation has returned to normal, but the curfew is still on,” the spokesman said.
Myanmar citizens living along the Thai-Myanmar border told Reuters on Wednesday clashes between Muslims and Buddhists started in Pyi, some 290 kms north of Yangon, on October 8 and spread to the nearby cities of Bago and Hinthada.
They said more than 100 people were wounded and one killed in the clash in Pyi, but officials declined to comment on figures.
They said authorities in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar had banned all vehicles from entering Yangon after the riot in Hinthada on Sunday.
Sources in the towns said the riots were caused by a brawl between the families of a Buddhist teenager and a Muslim man she eloped with.
Rivalry between Buddhists and Muslims, who make up almost four percent of the country’s 51 million people, is not uncommon in Myanmar.
The first clash this year was in February in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State, 490 kms northwest of Yangon. Another one took place in May in Taungoo, a city in Bago Division, 265 kms north of Yangon.
Curfews were imposed for some time in both cities. Government and private sources said the riots were sparked by religious differences.
Political analysts say Myanmar authorities have been taking special care to prevent riots between Buddhists and Muslims since the suicide attacks on the United States on September 11.—Reuters
