SITTWE: At least 112 people have been killed and thousands of homes torched in Buddhist-Muslim violence in Myanmar, casting a shadow over the reformist government’s attempts to remake the country’s global image.

People have fled their homes in droves after the latest clashes in western Rakhine state, which was rocked by violence in June that split communities and left tens of thousands of mainly Muslim Rohingya living in camps.

“Up until this morning, 51 men and 61 women have died,” Win Myaing, a spokesman for Rakhine state said, adding that the dead were from both sides and more than 70 people have been wounded in several days of violence.

More than 150 people have now been killed in the state since June, according to the authorities, who have imposed emergency rule in the face of continued explosive tension in the region.

The United Nations (UN) responded to the bloodshed on Friday with a stark warning that Myan-mar’s reforms are under threat from the continued unrest between ethnic Rakhine and the Rohingya.

President Thein Sein has been widely praised for overseeing sweeping reforms in the former junta-ruled nation, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners and the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament. But the Rakhine violence poses a stern challenge to the reform process.

State media on Friday took the rare step of acknowledging the damage the resurgent violence is causing to the nation’s image at a pivotal moment in its transition from authoritarian rule.

The latest violence, which prompted Myanmar’s main Islamic organizations to cancel celebrations for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that began on Friday, is seen as serious challenge to the government.

Myanmar’s 800,000 Rohingya are seen as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh by the government and many Burmese.

The stateless Rohingya, speaking a Bengali dialect similar to one in Bangladesh, have long been considered by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet.

Bangladesh on Thursday mobilized extra patrols along its river border with Myanmar amid reports of dozens of boats carrying Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing the clashes.

Bangladesh drew criticism from the UN after it turned back boatloads of Rohingya, mainly women and children, after the June violence. But the nation said that it would not accept any new refugees because it was already dealing with an estimated 300,000 Rohingya.

The UN said that it fears large numbers of Rohingya will attempt the perilous sea journey south over the coming weeks to escape violence in Rakhine and the sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh.