Rohingya refugees appeal for help

Armed troops patrolled Myanmar's northwest city of Sittwe on Friday (June 15) as a fragile peace held in the wake of days of sectarian violence that has stoked nationalist fervour and displaced 30,000 people, with many feared dead.

Heavy rain kept many residents indoors in the Rakhine state capital and police and aid groups struggled to get food to thousands of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas displaced by rioting and arson that have presented a big test to Myanmar's 15-month-old quasi-civilian government.

Hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas from the Thae Chaung village in the outskirts of Sittwe have lost their homes and are now living in makeshift tents.

More than 20 houses were burned down late on Thursday in a village near Sittwe, residents said, adding to the 2,500 torched in the past week. But there were no reports of further deaths.

A dawn-to-dusk curfew remained in place in Sittwe and many Rohingyas had been moved out by security forces.

The violence, which the government said had killed 29 people and displaced 30,000 as of Thursday, is a major setback for a rapidly reforming Myanmar that has seen a year of dramatic political change after 49 years of oppressive military rule.