lashio (Myanmar): Religious violence shook eastern Myanmar for a second day on Wednesday as terrified residents called for security reinforcements after an orphanage, mosque and shops were burned down.
The Government appealed for calm after the unrest — the latest in a series of outbreaks of sectarian strife that pose a major challenge to the country’s reformist leaders following the end of decades of military rule. Residents said mobs armed with sticks were roaming the streets of lashio town in Shan State looking for Muslims today, while an AFP reporter saw two houses ablaze.