Myanmar Sectarian Violence

Violence in Myanmar that's pushed nearly 400,000 Muslim refugees into neighboring Bangladesh is threatening to deepen sectarian tensions across the region.

The body representing Myanmar's top monks has distanced itself from a vocal Buddhist nationalist group, in an unprecedented blow to the anti-Muslim network blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country.

Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Myanmar's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working.

Police in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, said they had arrested another five people after sectarian violence in which a Buddhist and a Muslim died, but an overnight curfew and a heavy security presence appeared to have restored calm on Friday.

Two men were killed in a second night of rioting in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, a security official said on Thursday, the latest flare-up in two years of sectarian unrest between Buddhists and Muslims that threatens fledgling reforms.

Hundreds of Buddhist men on motorcycles waved iron rods and bamboo poles and threw rocks in a northeastern Myanmar town on Wednesday, a day after a mosque and a Muslim orphanage were torched in a new wave of violence targeting the religious minority. Residents said a movie theater was burned as the mob sped around the town.

Muslims and Buddhists clashed in Myanmar's northern city of Lashio on Tuesday, witnesses said, as a wave of sectarian violence reached a mountainous region near China's border.

Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have introduced a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families in an effort to ease tensions with the Rohingya's Buddhist neighbors after a spate of deadly sectarian violence, an official said on Saturday.

The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing.

Myanmar's army took control of a ruined central city on Saturday that was placed under martial law after several days of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims killed dozens of people and left scores of buildings in flames in the worst sectarian bloodshed to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year.

The UN human rights chief called on Myanmar on Friday to allow Muslim Rohingya to become citizens after deadly sectarian violence in recent months in the western state of Rakhine.

As security forces police the edgy aftermath of sectarian bloodshed in western Myanmar, fearful Buddhists and Muslims are arming themselves with homemade weapons, testing the government's resolve to prevent a new wave of violence.

A new wave of sectarian violence in western Myanmar has left five people dead and dozens injured in recent days, triggering another exodus of Muslims to emergency camps, officials said on Thursday.

Northwest Myanmar was tense on Monday after sectarian violence engulfed its largest city at the weekend, with Reuters witnessing rival mobs of Muslims and Buddhists torching houses and police firing into the air to disperse crowds.

Myanmar state media warned on Sunday of "anarchy" and a spiral of retaliation after a spate of deadly sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims that threatens to overshadow reforms in the nation.

Violence in Myanmar that's pushed nearly 400,000 Muslim refugees into neighboring Bangladesh is threatening to deepen sectarian tensions across the region.

The body representing Myanmar's top monks has distanced itself from a vocal Buddhist nationalist group, in an unprecedented blow to the anti-Muslim network blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country.

Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Myanmar's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working.

Police in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, said they had arrested another five people after sectarian violence in which a Buddhist and a Muslim died, but an overnight curfew and a heavy security presence appeared to have restored calm on Friday.

Two men were killed in a second night of rioting in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, a security official said on Thursday, the latest flare-up in two years of sectarian unrest between Buddhists and Muslims that threatens fledgling reforms.

Hundreds of Buddhist men on motorcycles waved iron rods and bamboo poles and threw rocks in a northeastern Myanmar town on Wednesday, a day after a mosque and a Muslim orphanage were torched in a new wave of violence targeting the religious minority. Residents said a movie theater was burned as the mob sped around the town.

Muslims and Buddhists clashed in Myanmar's northern city of Lashio on Tuesday, witnesses said, as a wave of sectarian violence reached a mountainous region near China's border.

Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have introduced a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families in an effort to ease tensions with the Rohingya's Buddhist neighbors after a spate of deadly sectarian violence, an official said on Saturday.

The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing.

Myanmar's army took control of a ruined central city on Saturday that was placed under martial law after several days of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims killed dozens of people and left scores of buildings in flames in the worst sectarian bloodshed to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year.

The UN human rights chief called on Myanmar on Friday to allow Muslim Rohingya to become citizens after deadly sectarian violence in recent months in the western state of Rakhine.

As security forces police the edgy aftermath of sectarian bloodshed in western Myanmar, fearful Buddhists and Muslims are arming themselves with homemade weapons, testing the government's resolve to prevent a new wave of violence.

A new wave of sectarian violence in western Myanmar has left five people dead and dozens injured in recent days, triggering another exodus of Muslims to emergency camps, officials said on Thursday.

Northwest Myanmar was tense on Monday after sectarian violence engulfed its largest city at the weekend, with Reuters witnessing rival mobs of Muslims and Buddhists torching houses and police firing into the air to disperse crowds.

Myanmar state media warned on Sunday of "anarchy" and a spiral of retaliation after a spate of deadly sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims that threatens to overshadow reforms in the nation.