M-Media
March 25, 2013
A group of Buddhist thugs attempted to burn down Mine Tauk village Mosque in Innlay lake region in Shan State. On the early morning of March 24, security guards alerted Muslim and Buddhist villagers of the thugs setting the mosque on fire. When local people gathered to fight back, the thugs torched the door of the mosque and ran away.
Since the incident, Naung Shwe township police department is taking measure for the mosque’s security. Local ethnic Innthar Muslims and Buddhists are together trying to secure the mosque and the village.
Mine Tauk was the very first mosque in Shan State built by Turkish Muslims 260 years ago.
According to a village elder, the rioters are ethnic Bamar from central Myanmar who were brought in for the construction of a large-scale hotel zone a few kilometers away from Mine Tauk.
