At least three people have been killed in a fresh outbreak of communal violence between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhists in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, a local official said on Tuesday. The clashes laid bare festering tensions between the two communities after widespread violence in June left dozens dead, tens of thousands displaced and prompted rights groups to warn of a humanitarian crisis. “We got the information that three people, an ethnic Rakhine man and two Muslim women, were killed at Pandeinkone village during yesterday’s (Monday’s) clashes,” Hla Thein, Rakhine state chief justice told AFP. “It’s difficult to control the situation,” he said, adding that there was no information on the number of wounded. Hundreds of homes were also torched in the unrest that affected two neighbouring villages, he said, while police said an overnight curfew failed to prevent violence continuing for a second day. “The conflict between the two communities is happening again this morning. About 50 houses were burnt down this morning at a village in Mrauk U town,” a police official said requesting anonymity. More than 50,000 Muslims and up to 10,000 Buddhists are thought to be displaced across Rakhine state, where people from both communities were forced to flee as mobs torched entire villages in June’s flare-up.
