Myanmar urges calm after fresh religious violence

Myanmar's government called for calm Wednesday after mobs burned down a Muslim orphanage, a mosque and shops during a new eruption of religious violence in the east of the country. The situation was "under control" after an overnight curfew was imposed in Lashio town in Shan State, according to police, which said the unrest was triggered by an attack on a local Buddhist woman by a Muslim man. There were no other reports of injuries in the violence -- the latest in a series of outbreaks of unrest that pose a major challenge to the country's reformist government following the end of decades of military rule. "A Muslim orphanage and a mosque were burnt down. Some shops owned by the orphanage and nearby buildings were destroyed," a government official in Lashio who did not want to be named told AFP. According to state media, the 24-year-old victim suffered burns to her chest, back and hand, but her condition was not serious. A 48-year-old Muslim man was arrested over the incident, after which dozens of Buddhist monks gathered in front of a police station in Lashio, it said. Tension remained high in Lashio on Wednesday, with one Muslim resident telling AFP that streets were empty as rumours of new attacks swirled. "We are really worried about what might happen in the next few days. Almost all Muslim people are trying to stay in safe places.... we don't know how we are going to get through the night," the resident said by telephone, requesting anonymity. Referring to the orphanage blaze, the resident said the children had been evacuated before it was targeted by mobs. A presidential spokesman appealed for an end to the latest violence, saying it had "no place in the democratic society we are trying to establish". "I would like to ask everyone to control (themselves) so this does not happen again in Lashio or other regions," Ye Htut said in a message posted on his official Facebook page. Photographs on the Ministry of Information website apparently taken on Tuesday night showed scorched buildings and a crowd looking on as a blaze devoured a roadside stall. Religious violence in the former army-ruled nation has caused international alarm, with US President Barack Obama last week expressing "deep concern" about anti-Muslim attacks, during a landmark visit to the United States by President Thein Sein. In March at least 44 people were killed in sectarian strife in central Myanmar where thousands of homes were set ablaze in riots sparked by an apparent row at a Muslim-owned gold shop. Attacks against Muslims have exposed deep rifts in the Buddhist-majority country and cast a shadow over widely praised political reforms. Some monks -- who were among the most vocal pro-democracy supporters during Myanmar's repressive junta era -- have been involved in the violence, while others are spearheading a move to boycott shops owned by Muslims. Wirathu, a monk from Mandalay responsible for some of the most vitriolic anti-Muslim rhetoric, on Wednesday posted several graphic pictures apparently of the injured Buddhist woman on his Facebook page. Deadly unrest last year, mainly targeted at Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine State, left about 200 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. Up to 140,000 people -- mainly Rohingya Muslims -- were displaced in two waves of sectarian unrest in Rakhine.