19 killed in fighting between Myanmar army and rebels
One rebel group said there was so much conflict in the region between the military and armed groups that it had to join in
At least 19 people have been killed in clashes between Myanmar’s military and an ethnic armed group on Saturday in northern Shan State, Myanmar army and local sources said, the most deadly flare-up in recent years as fighting in the borderlands intensifies.
Rights defenders say clashes in northern Myanmar near the China border have ramped up since January as the international community focuses on the Rohingya crisis in the west of the country.
Saturday’s violence was between the military and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, one of several insurgent groups fighting for more autonomy in the north.
“Nineteen [people] were killed in fighting,” the Myanmar military source said, adding that two dozen were injured.
Thaung Tun, a local charity leader who helped carry the injured to the hospital, said the dead included a police officer, a rebel fighter, four members of a state-backed militia and two women civilians.
Pictures of burned out vehicles and armed men running for cover spread quickly on social media.