Vigilance call over attacks on Buddhists

Authorities in Bangladesh have ordered security officials to remain alert around official camps of Rohingya Muslims following weekend attacks on minority Buddhists and their temples in the area.

Some 28,000 Rohingya who fled Burma live in two official camps in the southern Cox’s Bazar district, but tens of thousands of others are scattered in the region.

Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said he ordered security officials to stay vigilant.

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There is no clear evidence that Rohingya Muslims were involved in the attacks on Buddhists, but concerns have been raised about possible links to the violence that took place between late Saturday and early Sunday.

Bangladesh’s largest-circulated Bengali-language daily paper reported that a section of intelligence officials think radical Rohingya Muslims might have a role behind the attacks. It did not name any intelligence officials.

Meanwhile, prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government is blaming Islamic radicals and activists in the political opposition.