Rakhine official dies in knife attack

A Myanmar official who was the administrator of a town in troubled Rakhine state when seven people died there in rioting earlier this month has been stabbed and killed, the government said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

Police were treating the death of Bo Bo Min Theik as a case of personal enmity and it was not related to the violence in the region, said Zaw Htay, a government spokesman.

His body was found in his car on the highway from Mrauk U to the provincial capital Sittwe on Tuesday, district officials said.

Bo Bo Min Theik was replaced as the administrator of Mrauk U and posted to the provincial government in Sittwe three days after police shot and killed seven demonstrators from the majority Buddhist community after a local gathering celebrating an ancient Buddhist Arakan kingdom turned violent.

The violence underscores the challenges facing Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a country where dozens of ethnic groups have been clamouring for autonomy since independence from Britain in 1947.