Fighting between rebels, Myanmar government forces ‘intensifying’ on border with China
So many spectators were standing on a road watching the fighting across the frontier, police had to tell them to move on, according to report
Fighting between Myanmar government troops and rebel forces has intensified in a region bordering China, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported.
Myanmar warplanes have also kept away from China’s air space after one of the country’s aircraft was blamed for entering Chinese territory last week and killing five people with a stray bomb dropped on to a field, the Global Times said.
The PLA had warned that decisive measures would be taken if Myanmar warplanes violated Chinese airspace again.
“The stern warnings from the Chinese government and its military have made Myanmar warplanes disappear from the sky of Kokang, but the fighting has become more intense,” the report quoted an unnamed spokesman for the rebels as saying.
Government forces in Myanmar are fighting ethnic-Chinese rebels in the Kokang region.
The rebel National Democratic Alliance Army was formed after splitting from Communist Party forces in Myanmar the late 1980s.
State media in China have reported that about 60,000 refugees have fled Myanmar into Chinese territory in recent weeks to escape the fighting.