The death toll from recent communal violence in central Myanmar has risen to 43 with more than 1,300 homes and other buildings destroyed, state media reported today.
About 68 people have been arrested in connection with the Buddhist-Muslim unrest, which has left 11,376 people homeless, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper has reported.
It said that 163 incidences of violence have been reported in 15 townships. Previously the official death toll stood at 40.
The situation appears to have calmed since President Thein Sein had on Thursday vowed a tough response against those behind the violence, which he attributed to “political opportunists and religious extremists”.