AFP

SITTWE DOZENS of people have been killed in a surge in sectarian violence in Myanmar, an official said on Tuesday, as international pressure grew for an end to the violence.

A state of emergency has been declared for western Rakhine state, which has been rocked by a wave of rioting and arson, posing a major test for the reformist government which took power last year.

“About 25 people have been killed during the unrest,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity. He did not give details of how they died or whether they were Buddhists or Muslims.

A further 41 people were wounded in five days of unrest, he said.

The death toll does not include 10 Muslims who were killed on June 3 by a Buddhist mob in apparent revenge for the rape and murder of a woman, which sparked the violence in Rakhine.

Rights organisations fear the death toll could be much higher than the official figure. Reporters have been unable to visit many of the affected areas for security reasons.

Gunfire rattled the state capital Sittwe on Tuesday and there was a heavy security presence, according to a reporter. Plumes of smoke rose from fires dotted around the area.

Separately, police in neighbouring Bangladesh said a Muslim died in a hospital there on Tuesday after he was allegedly shot by Myanmar security forces before escaping across the border.

The United States urged an immediate halt to the deadly sectarian unrest, which has prompted the United Nations to evacuate foreign workers from Rakhine state.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for “all parties to exercise restraint”, adding the “the United States continues to be deeply concerned”.

The United Nations has begun pulling out more than 40 workers — including foreigners — and their families from the area.

Warning that the violence is running “out of control”, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for international observers to be deployed in Rakhine.

“Why is the international community pulling out at this time? Is the threat at a level that warrants it?” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW’s Asia division “The government of Burma (Myanmar) has thrown a black veil over the situation in Rakhine state,” he said.

Rakhine, a predominantly Buddhist state bordering Bangladesh, is home to a large number of Muslims including the Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants and view them with hostility, describing them as “Bengalis”.

Rioting has seen hundreds of homes set on fire across the state.

An ethnic Rakhine fireman said some Rohingya villagers had been injured as they escaped burning homes near Sittwe.

“We all have sympathy for them (the Rohingya). We saw women and children running for their lives. We are all humans,” he added, but asked not to be named.

The violence poses a serious challenge to Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein, as the nation takes tentative steps towards democracy after decades of authoritarian rule.

A commentary published on Tuesday in government mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar warned continued ethnic strife could also put the unity of the country in jeopardy.

Under the headline “A single spark may well set the whole hillside on fire”, the piece urged unity across Myanmar’s dozens of ethnic groups.

Animosity between local Buddhists and the Rohingya appears increasingly intractable with both sides trading angry accusations over the surge in violence this month, much of it playing out over social networking websites.

Experts say more radical elements on both sides may be trying to benefit from the unrest.