Thousands of Muslims who fled Myanmar's latest bout of sectarian violence have sought shelter in a Buddhist monastery guarded by army soldiers in Lashio.
The army transported Muslim families by the truckload on Thursday out of a neighbourhood in the northeastern city where overturned cars and motorcycles that had been charred a day earlier left black scars on the red earth. "We heard things could get worse, so we waved down soldiers and asked them for help," said 59-year-old Khin Than, who arrived at the monastery on Thursday morning with her four children and sacks of luggage along with several hundred other Muslims.
Buddhist monks organised meals for the newly arrived refugees, who huddled together in several buildings in the monastery compound.
Although a few Buddhist men could still be seen on Thursday riding motorbikes with crude weapons such as sharpened bamboo poles, no new violence was reported.
Several banks and shops reopened as residents emerged to look at destroyed Muslim shops.
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Lashio, said soldiers were seen helping people who want to leave their homes.
"The downtown area is now largely sealed off," he said. "Only people who live here are allowed to come and go and the Muslim community is long gone.”
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