A village outside of Arakan’s capital Sittwe quickly became the latest focal point of sectarian violence over the weekend as armed police shot into a crowd of Rohingya protestors.
Tensions began to escalate on the outskirts of the state capital on Friday following the morning prayers as protestors gathered and accused local police of murdering a Muslim fisherman whose body had washed ashore in Ohntawgyi village earlier in the day.
Rohingya villagers went on to raze a police outpost in village as police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds into the crowd.
Rohingyas injured during the melee blamed the violence on local authorities and accused the officials of backing sectarian interests in the restive state.
“The clashes happened like this because there are many Arakanese people in the police. Burmese people wouldn’t do this”, said one of the Rohingya who had been injured in the confrontation,” said one man injured during the melee
According to he the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, only three people suffered minor injuries during the clash.
The unrest comes a year after two bouts of sectarian riots pitting Rohingya Muslim against Buddhist Arakanese led to the deaths of around 200 and displaced of more than 140,000 people.
