Myanmar lifts curfew in violence-hit Mandalay

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Authorities in Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay have lifted a curfew imposed after attacks on minority Muslims left two people dead and injured 14 others.

The rioting in early July was triggered by rumors that two Muslim men had raped a Buddhist woman. Mobs torched homes and shops, prompting authorities on July 3 to impose an overnight curfew in seven townships. The Home Ministry later said a man had falsely accused the two men of raping a woman due to a grudge against them.

An order carried in state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday said calm had been largely restored, allowing for its lifting.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling since 2012 with sectarian violence that has left up to 300 people, most of them Muslims attacked by Buddhist extremists in the western Rakhine state.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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