(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Government Official said about 71 people had died in more than a week of clashes, in addition to 10 Muslims killed on June 3 by a Buddhist mob.

Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said the last reported deaths occurred Tuesday in Yathetaung township, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of the Rakhine state capital Sittwe, when clashes took 12 lives. Win Myaing says security forces restored calm there Wednesday.

Thousands of muslims homes have been burned down, and tens of thousands muslims displaced.

Resentment between the communities is long-standing.

Many Rakhines consider the Muslim Rohingyas to be illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.

Myanmar officials and many Burmese, including the mostly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine, consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, and refer to them as “Bengalis”.

The dead bodies of eight more ethnic Rakhine were found in the village of Yathedaung, about 65 kilometres from the state capital Sittwe, the official said. “These people were killed during clashes with Bengalis,” he told from Sittwe.

About 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar, according to the United Nations, which describes them as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Bangladesh, where an estimated 300,000 Rohingya live, has been turning back Rohingya boats arriving on its shores since the outbreak of the unrest. Rohingya leaders say the real number of dead could be much higher than the figures given by authorities.

/smh_