Burma: escalating violence signals religious war



Stateless Muslim Rohingyas sheltering at a school on the outskirts of Sittwe, capital of
Burma's western Arakan state. Photograph: Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images

 

As the country prepares for Barack Obama's arrival, Rohingya and Arakanese communities claim atrocities on both sides

Khamal Alam is the only member of his family to survive the recent violence in western Burma. The 25-year-old from the Rohingya minority says all his relatives were shot by government troops who opened fire on the Muslims during running battles with the Buddhist Arakanese.
Alam arrived at the Thae Chaung refugee camp after fleeing his home town of Kyaukphyu when several hundred houses were burned by local Buddhists. "Nobody died from the sword, only gunshots," said another Kyaukphyu resident now in the camp.

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