State of emergency imposed in central Burma
Burma has imposed a state of emergency in the central town of Meikhtila after three days of fighting between Buddhists and Muslims which has left up to 20 people dead and dozens more injured.
A Burmese policeman stands guard after at least 20 people were killed in escalating clashes in the town of Meikhtila Photo: EPA
By David Eimer, Bangkok
5:32PM GMT 22 Mar 2013
The clashes have intensified fears that last year's sectarian violence between Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya minority in western Burma's Rakhine State is now spreading to the Burmese heartland. Up to 180 people died in those clashes and another 120,000, mostly Rohingya, were forced to flee their homes.
Reports from Meikhtila, a town 90 miles south of Mandalay, described scenes of devastation, with charred bodies lying in the streets and mosques and Muslim-owned businesses burned to the ground. Gangs of Buddhists, including monks, are reported to be roaming the city attacking Muslims, hundreds of whom have taken refuge in a local football stadium.
Win Htein, an MP for Meikhtila from the opposition National League for Democracy, said that at least 20 people have been killed. "I've seen them with my own eyes," Mr Win said.
With the police unable to control the fighting, Burma's President Thein Sein imposed martial law on Meikhtila on Friday afternoon and sent in the army. Britain, the United States and the UN have expressed deep concern over the escalating violence, amid fears it could derail the reform process initiated by President Sein's government in 2011.
The unrest was sparked on Wednesday after an argument between a Buddhist couple and the owners of a Muslim gold shop escalated into a fully-fledged riot, with hundreds of Buddhists arming themselves with swords and knives and randomly attacking Muslims. The death of a monk in the clashes has further inflamed anger amongst the Buddhist community. Around 2,000 Muslims have now fled Meikhtila, where buildings in many neighbourhoods were still smouldering on Friday evening.
Around five per cent of Burma's 60 million people are Muslims. Tensions between the majority Buddhists and Muslims were suppressed under the military regime that ran Burma until 2011. Now, the resentment between the two communities appears to becoming increasingly violent, presenting both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with perhaps their biggest challenge as Burma struggles to make the transition to a democratic nation.
