Burma's president has acknowledged major destruction in the west of the country, scene of recent ethnic unrest
"There have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns
being burnt down in Rakhine state," Thein Sein's spokesman told the BBC.
He was speaking after Human Rights Watch released satellite
pictures showing hundreds of buildings destroyed in the coastal town of
Kyaukpyu alone.
It says the victims were mostly Muslim Rohingya, targeted by non-Muslims.
Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay told the BBC the government
was tightening security in Rakhine state, which is also known as Arakan
"If necessary, we will send more police and military troops in order to get back stability," he added.
There is long-standing tension between ethnic Rakhine people,
who make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims, many
of whom are Rohingya and are stateless
The Burmese authorities regard the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and
correspondents say there is widespread public hostility to them.
'Bodies at sea'
The satellite pictures released by Human Right Watch, a US-based group, show Kyaukpyu district on 9 October, and then on 25 October.
On 9 October, hundreds of closely packed houses can be seen
on the peninsula, as well as scores of houseboats along the northern
shoreline.
But in the image taken on Thursday, few boats remain and the 35-acre district is almost entirely empty of houses.
HRW said many residents are thought to have fled by boat.
A local reporter who visited the site told the BBC's Burmese
service the area had been completely destroyed, with some buildings
still smouldering.
In one district, with a population of some 3,000, only burnt
out poles from the houses and charred stubs of trees were to be seen.
The government says the death toll from the attacks this week
has reached 82, with a further 129 people injured, and that nearly
3,000 houses have been destroyed.
It was the first serious outburst of violence since June, when a state of emergency was declared in Rakhine.
At that time deadly clashes claimed dozens of lives and
thousands of people were forced to flee their homes - many are yet to
return.
Eid plans cancelled
HRW said it feared the death toll from
the latest unrest could be much higher, based on witness reports and
"the government's well-documented history of underestimating figures
that might lead to criticism of the state".
Non-Muslims are reporting that this time they too were fired
on by government forces during the unrest, and suffered many casualties.
The government has declared a curfew in the affected areas,
but its response since the violence first broke out is being widely
criticised as inadequate, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.
On Friday six towns were hit by clashes and a night-time
curfew is in place in several locations including Min Bya and Mrauk Oo
where the latest spate of violence began.
It is unclear what prompted the latest clashes. The Rakhine Buddhists
and Muslims, believed to be mainly Rohingya, blame each other for the
violence.
In Bangladesh, border officials said they believed several
boats with Rohingyas on board were waiting to try to cross the river
from Burma. One official said 52 Rohingya had been sent back in the last
few days.
Muslims throughout Burma have abandoned plans to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Adha because of the violence.
In August, Burma set up a commission to investigate the
violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the west of the country.
Authorities earlier rejected a UN-led inquiry.
Posted in: World news
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