More than 2,600 houses in Rohingya-majority areas of Myanmar's Rakhine state burned, government says

More than 2,600houses have been burned down in Rohingya-majority areas ofMyanmar's northwest in the last week, the government said onSaturday, in one of the deadliest bouts of violence involvingthe Muslim minority in decades.

About 58,600 Rohingya have fled the violence into Bangladeshfrom Myanmar, according to UNrefugee agency UNHCR, as aidworkers there struggle to cope.

Myanmar officials have blamed Islamist group Arakan RohingyaSalvation Army for the burning of the homes. The group claimedresponsibility for coordinated attacks on security posts lastweek that prompted clashes and a large army counter-offensive.

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But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say a campaign of arsonand killings by the Myanmar army is aimed at trying to forcethem out.

The treatment of Buddhist-majority Myanmar's roughly 1.1million Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing leader Aung SanSuu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for aminority that has long complained of persecution.