Explosions rock Myanmar near Bangladesh border

Muslim countries condemn Myanmar for killing Rohingya Muslims and burning their homes in Rakhine state as exodus to Bangladesh grows.

Muslim women activists take part in a rally in support of Myanmars Rohingya minority, during one of the deadliest bouts of violence involving the Muslim minority in decades, outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Reuters

Muslim women activists take part in a rally in support of Myanmars Rohingya minority, during one of the deadliest bouts of violence involving the Muslim minority in decades, outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Two blasts rocked a Myanmar area near the Bangladeshi border on Monday, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and thick black smoke. The violence that has sent nearly 90,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh shows no sign of easing.

Bangladeshi border guards said a woman lost a leg from a blast about 50 metres inside Myanmar and was carried into Bangladesh to get treatment. Journalists heard explosions and saw a black smoke rising near a Myanmar village.

The explosions come as Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai and Muslim countries in Asia led a growing chorus of criticism on Monday aimed at Myanmar and its civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi over the plight of its Rohingya Muslim minority.

The exodus of Rohingya Muslims in the past 10 days is following an uptick in fighting between militants and Myanmar's military in strife-torn western Rakhine state. 

Rohingya militias were reported to have attacked military posts on August 25, triggering a "scorched earth" response from the army.

The impoverished region bordering Bangladesh has been a crucible of communal tensions between Muslims and Buddhists for years, with the Rohingya forced to live under apartheid-like restrictions on movement and citizenship.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic has more. 

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Malala appeals to Suu Kyi

The recent violence, which picked up again after last October when a small Rohingya militant group ambushed border posts, is the worst Rakhine has witnessed in years. 

The UN says Myanmar's army may have committed ethnic cleansing in its response.

De facto leader Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner of Myanmar's junta, has come under increasing fire over her perceived unwillingness to speak out against the treatment of the Rohingya or chastise the military.

She has made no public comment since the latest fighting broke out.

"Every time I see the news, my heart breaks at the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar," Pakistani activist Yousafzai, who famously survived being shot in the head by the Taliban, said in a statement on Twitter.

Muslim neighbours riled

The growing crisis threatens Myanmar's diplomatic relations, particularly with Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia where there is profound public anger over the treatment of the Rohingya.

Pakistan's foreign ministry released a statement saying it was "deeply concerned over reports of growing number of deaths and forced displacement of Rohingya Muslims" and urged Myanmar to investigate reports of atrocities against the community.

Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi met Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Monday in a bid to pressure the government to do more to alleviate the crisis.

"Once again, violence, this humanitarian crisis has to stop immediately," Indonesian president Joko Widodo told reporters on Sunday as he announced Retno's mission there.

Hours before Widodo spoke, a petrol bomb was thrown at Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta while police there have previously dismantled two attempts by militants to bomb the compound.

Dozens demonstrated in front of the embassy on Monday, where armed police were deployed and the mission cordoned off behind barbed wire.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has also seen public protests since the latest round of Rakhine violence began.

"We urge for calm and restraint," Prime Minister Najib Razak tweeted. "The dire situation facing our Rohingya brothers and sisters must be alleviated for good of Myanmar and region."

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