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Curfew imposed after violence in Bago Region
PostedBy:PNA
Post Date : 27 March 2013
Post Date : 27 March 2013
Police in Myanmar's western Bago Region are now
trying to prevent riots from occurring in other towns throughout the region by
conducting day and night patrols and seeking updates about potential riots.
Violence in Myanmar's Okpo township has led to
the arrest of five suspects, possibly responsible in inciting the religiously
motivated outbreak. The Myanmar police force detained the suspects involved in
the central Bago Region unrest, in which religious buildings, shops and houses
were stoned.
Okpo, as well as the townships of
Gyopingauk and Minhla are the latest in a series of communal violence. This
comes less than a week after unrest in Meikhtila, Yemethin and Tatkon in
northern Mandalay region. Myanmar police claimed to have arrested 35 suspects
linked with Meikhtila and Yemethin riots, bringing the total number of people
in detention to about 40, with 10 more suspects wanted.
During the March 20th
Meikhtila riot in the country's Mandalay region, 40 people were killed and 39
others were injured leaving the destruction of 152 houses, one education office
and 13 religious buildings in its wake.
Security measures are being taken to
prevent further spread of the violence. Following the riots, Myanmar
authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on several towns in central Bago
region. The curfew (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) bans gathering of more than five people,
making speech, procession and demonstration.
Authorities imposed a curfew on three
towns in Bago region on Tuesday -- Gyopingauk, Minhla and Okpho. This comes
after Meikhtila returned to normal after a state of emergency was declared in
the town on March 22, with the intervention of the army to help bring security
to the area.
The recent series of riots were sparked
by a brawl between Buddhist buyers and Muslim shopkeeper at a gold shop in
Meikhtila on March 20.
On Tuesday, the United States pledged to
provide about $100,000 USD to help the victims of communal riots in Myanmar, as
the violence creeps closer to the city of Yangon. The money will be used to provide
hygiene kits, blankets and plastic sheeting, as well as emergency water
supplies for people fleeing the unrest, State Department acting deputy
spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
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