Myanmar mob attacks aid shipment bound for Rohingya area

YANGON, Myanmar – Police in western Myanmar say they have fired warning shots after a Buddhist mob tried to block humanitarian aid headed to an area where ethnic Rohingya Muslims were driven from their homes. No injuries were reported.

Policemen Phyo Wai Kyaw says 300 men started throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers protecting International Committee of the Red Cross supplies late Wednesday.

The attack occurred in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. A military crackdown in northern Rakhine launched in retaliation for attacks by Rohingya militants last month has sent more than 410,000 members of the ethnic minority fleeing Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh.

The supplies were to be delivered by boat to Maungdaw township, where the violence was particularly intense. Buddhists in Rakhine have accused international aid groups of favoring Rohingya.