Myanmar’s Suu Kyi says terrorism in Rakhine state still threat to region

Terrorism remains a threat in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and could have “grave consequences” for the region, the leader of the Southeast Asian country, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Tuesday. “The danger of terrorist activities, which was the initial cause of events leading to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine remains real and present today,” she said in a lecture in Singapore. “Unless this security challenge is addressed the risk of inter-communal violence will remain.” The Nobel peace prize laureate has been criticized for her failure to speak out against a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine. Over the last year, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the Buddhist-majority country to neighboring Bangladesh following a military response to attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents, Reuters said. Myanmar has rejected accusations of ethnic cleansing and dismissed most accounts of atrocities, blaming Rohingya “terrorists.”