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29 killed in riot in Myanmar’s Rakhine state: gov’t official

14 June 2012 17:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A total of 29 people have been killed and 38 others injured in a deadly riot in Myanmar’s Rakhine state from June 8 to 13, local government officials said here on Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Among the dead people, 13 are Rakhinese, while the 16 others are Muslims, and 16 of the injured are Rakhinese with the 22 others being Muslims, disclosed Rakhine State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Htein Lin and Law Officer U Hla Thein at a press conference.

The press conference is the first given by the local government since a state of emergency was declared in the state along with the imposition of a curfew order.

Myanmar declared a state of emergency in Rakhine state on the night of June 10 after curfew was announced one after another in Maungtaw, Buthidaung, Sittway, Thandwe, Kyaukphyu and Yanbye, which will be effective until further noticed in the wake of unrest in the western part of the state.

Nine monasteries, seven Muslim mosques and one school were burned down in the violence.

A total of 2,528 residential houses across the state were destroyed by fire, including 1,192 of Rakhinese and 1,336 of Muslims.

The government officials said the situation in riot-hit western Rakhine state has turned calm with the people starting to rebuild their destroyed houses and some shops and banks in the downtown areas of Sittway reopened on Thursday, while big bazaar and schools remained closed.

However, Local ethnic Rakhinese victims, housed in refugee camps, told Xinhua that they are afraid of returning to their native villages from where they fled the riot.

There are a total of 37 refugee camps opened in the state housing of 31,884 victims so far. There are also 14 refugee camps in Yadae Taung for 3,104 people and four in Ponnagyun for 2,704 Rakhinese and two in Pauktaw for 1,500 Muslims.