Mob destroys mosque as religious, ethnic tension rises in Myanmar

A muslim man cries after a group of men destroyed a mosque in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months in the village of Thayethamin outside Yangon, Myanmar June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - A group of men from a village in central Myanmar destroyed a mosque in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months, coinciding with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, the country's persecuted Muslim minority.

Villagers from Thayethamin, a remote settlement a two-hours' drive northeast of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, destroyed the mosque on Thursday after a dispute over its construction, and beat up at least one Muslim man, media and a police spokesman said.