Agitators try to spread sectarian unrest to Yangon, politician says
Yangon - Provocateurs on Monday spread rumours that mosques had been destroyed in Yangon in an apparent attempt to spread sectarian fighting to Myanmar's former capital and biggest city, a politician said.
Two cars drove through Yangon neighbourhoods with large Muslim populations after midnight, their passengers shouting, "Mosques have been destroyed," said Phyu Phyu Thin, a local resident and member of parliament for the National League for Democracy opposition party.
Muslim men came out of their houses armed with swords and sticks in response, she said.
"Some of the men attacked our group when we went to the district to explain that no mosques had been destroyed in Yangon," Phyu Phyu Thin said.
More than 30 police were dispatched early Monday to the Mingalar Market neighbourhood in central Yangon, which has a large concentration of Muslim residents, to secure the area.
Tensions have been rising between Myanmar's Buddhists and Muslims, who account for less than 5 per cent of the population.//DPA
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