YANGON: Up to eight villages were burned down on Friday in a part of northwest Myanmar where large numbers of Muslim Rohingya had been sheltering from a wave of violence engulfing the area, a witness and three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. The fires were blazing in the ethnically mixed Rathedaung township, where populations of Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists live side by side. The burning of more villages is likely to fuel an exodus of Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh. They said that among the torched villages were the hamlets of Ah Htet Nan Yar and Auk Nan Yar, some 65 km (40 miles) north of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state. The latest flight of Rohingya from their homes in Myanmar began two weeks ago after Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts in Rakhine.

Source: New Strait Times September 08, 2017 15:11 UTC