Myanmar Muslims call off Eid celebrations

(CNN) -- Following a volatile week in Myanmar that has seen a surge in deadly sectarian violence, a group of Islamic organizations in the country announced that it had canceled all celebrations for Eid al-Adha, the four-day religious holiday observed by many Muslims.
No reason was given in the announcement from the All Myanmar Islam Association, a collaboration of five major Islamic organizations there. But locals are seeing it as a precautionary measure after the violence in recent days.
Clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims have flared this week, killing dozens of people and burning thousands of homes to the ground in the western state of Rakhine.
There has been tension between the two ethnic groups since May, when violence began after three Muslim men were arrested on suspicion of raping and killing a Buddhist woman.

New satellite imagery shows what Human Rights Watch says is extensive destruction in a Rohingya area of Kyauk Pyu. New satellite imagery obtained by Human Rights Watch shows what it said was extensive destruction of buildings in a predominantly Rohingya area of the coastal town of Kyauk Pyu. The swath of arson, the group said, stretched over 35 acres and included houseboats and floating barges.
The government in Myanmar "urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya ... who are under vicious attack," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "Unless the authorities also start addressing the root causes of the violence, it is only likely to get worse."
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who say they have been persecuted by the Myanmar military during its decades of authoritarian rule. Myanmar doesn't recognize them as citizens.
Q&A: What's behind the sectarian violence in Myanmar?

 Muslim pilgrims pray on Mount Arafat near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, ahead of the holiday of Eid al-Adha on Thursday, October 25. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and honors the Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, on the order of God, who according to the religion then provided a lamb in the boy's place. More than 2 million Muslims make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
 Crowds of Muslim pilgrims dressed in white flocked to Mount Arafat in the west of Saudi Arabia to take part in the main rituals of the annual Hajj on Thursday morning.  Pakistani men wait for customers at a livestock market ahead on Thursday in Lahore.
 Pakistani men carry animals for the sacrificial festival on a motorcycle in Lahore on Thursday.
 A Palestinian woman buys sweets in preparation for Eid al-Adha in Gaza City on Thursday.
 Pilgrims rest outside near Mount Arafat on Wednesday night.
 A Palestinian boy looks at goats at a local cattle market in the West Bank village of Qabatiya on Wednesday, October 24.
 A Palestinian pilgrim prays near the Haram Sharif Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, October 23.  Bosnian Muslim pilgrim Senad Hadzic, 47, who left December on a pilgrimage to Mecca by foot, walks in the holy city on Tuesday. Hadzic said he had walked through Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Jordan with a backpack weighing 20 kilograms, or 44 pounds.  A Pakistani youth stands with a goat at a livestock market in Quetta on Tuesday ahead of the Muslim sacrificial festival of Eid al-Adha.  An Afghan man sells dried fruits on a roadside in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, October 24.  A flock of sheep feeds at an animal market in the southern Turkish city of Kilis on Tuesday.  A Yemeni boy carries a goat at an animal market in the capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday.
 A child looks on as Muslim pilgrims perform evening prayers along a street close to the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on Tuesday.
 Muslim pilgrims perform their evening prayers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Monday, October 22.  Blacksmiths sharpen various tools and knives to be used to sacrifice animals on Monday in Peshawar, Pakistan.
 Palestinian children gather around a makeshift cube representing the holy Kaaba in Gaza City on Monday in a training sesson for children on how to celebrate the hajj pilgrimage.
 A Pakistani livestock trader shows the teeth of his camel at one of the main animal markets in Islamabad on Friday, October 19.  A Pakistani livestock trader takes a bath beside camels at one of the main animal markets in Islamabad on Friday.
 Palestinians gather at a sheep market Wednesday in Bethlehem, West Bank.
 An Afghan man gestures toward a sheep at an animal market as he waits for customers in the outskirts of Jalalabad on Saturday, October 20.

 Muslim pilgrims walk up Jabal al-Noor, the "Mountain of Light," overlooking the holy city of Mecca, on Sunday, October 21.
 Muslim pilgrims wait for the start of prayers at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on Monday.
Muslims prepare for Eid al-Adha Unrest between the Rohingya and majority Buddhists has tested President Thein Sein's administration, which is trying to seek reconciliation with Myanmar's different ethnic groups and move the country toward more democratic governance.
The government has sent extra security into the troubled region and declared a state of emergency. The president's office warned Thursday that "manipulators" behind the violence can expect to be found and prosecuted.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking in Parliament on Friday, called for a greater security presence and urged authorities to investigate suspected human rights offenses.