Yangon police step up security at mosques to prevent attacks

One person was killed and nine injured in sectarian clashes that occurred in Oakkan, a township in Yangon region on April 30, according to the Yangon Region Police.

“The authorities have tightened the security for mosques around the city to prevent further violence from spreading here as a consequence of the Oakkan incident. At least five police personnel are positioned at every mosque around the city,” Thet Naing said. Sectarian clashes erupted in Oakkan, reportedly after a Muslim woman bumped into a Buddhist novice. The woman’s “impolite act” was said to have ignited public anger.

A mosque was slightly damaged and goods in 25 shops in Anawrahta ward, Oakkan, destroyed by angry mobs.

“We have been providing security services for the mosques since the Meikhtila violence. We are taking preventive measures,” an official said.

A Section 188 alert had been imposed in the township to prevent further violence, the Yangon Region Police Force said.

Meanwhile, an Indonesian leader of Islamic militants, Abu Bakar Bashir, currently in prison in his country, has called for jihad in Myanmar. 

“With the permission of Allah, we will treat you and your people just like [we treated] communist Russia, which has gone to pieces, or just like America, which will perish soon [God willing],” Bashir was quoted as saying.

He called for mujahideen, or Muslim holy warriors, to destroy Myanmar like they threw the Soviet communists out of Afghanistan. Bashir said the only solution to end the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar was jihad. 

Min Aung, an official from Myanmar Police, said: “We have been informed that our big cities may be attacked by terrorists. Therefore, we have increased the security system at border gates.”