A local resident is seen riding her bicycle past the ruins of destroyed buildings in riot-hit Meiktila, central Myanmar, on June 4, 2013. Myanmar has lifted a state of emergency imposed in the riot-hit area in March where dozens of people were killed in religious violence. (AFP/File)
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar on Saturday lifted a state of emergency imposed in a riot-hit area in March where dozens of people were killed in religious violence, state media said.
The order was revoked "as peace and stability has already been restored" in the town of Meiktila and surrounding areas, according to a notice in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Officially 44 people were killed in the Buddhist-Muslim clashes in Meiktila, although some fear the toll was much higher.
Rights groups have accused the security forces of being too slow to stop the violence.
Attacks against Muslims -- who make up an estimated four percent of Myanmar's population -- have exposed deep fractures in the Buddhist-majority nation and cast a shadow over its emergence from army rule.
Buddhist-Muslim clashes in the western state of Rakhine last year left about 200 people dead, mostly Rohingya Muslims who are denied citizenship by Myanmar.
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