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Seven Dead After Demonstration in Myanmar's Rakhine State

by VOA News

   Seven people have been shot dead by police in Myanmar's troubled
   Rakhine state.

   Officials say at least 4,000 people surrounded a government building
   late Tuesday in the town of Mrauk U, shortly after an annual ceremony
   marking the end of the Arakan kingdom more than two centuries ago.

   Tin Maung Swe, the regional governor, says police attempted to get the
   crowd to disperse by firing warning shots using rubber bullets. When
   they refused to comply, the crowd began attacking soldiers and the
   security forces opened fire again using real ammunition.

   In addition to the seven dead, 13 others were injured in the shooting.

   Rakhine state is the epicenter of one of the world's biggest and
   ongoing humanitarian crises. About 650,000 Rohingyas have fled into
   neighboring Bangladesh since last August, when Myanmar forces launched
   a scorched earth campaign against Rohingya villages in Rakhine state in
   response to attacks on Myanmar police outposts by Rohingya militants.

   The United Nations has described the reported actions as "a textbook
   case of ethnic cleansing."