Ethnic Kokang soldiers stand outside a deserted market in Shan state in 2009 (AFP Photo)
Hundreds of civilians in the border town of Laukkai have fled to China while others have sought refuge in churches and nearby towns after clashes erupted between the Myanmar military and Kokang rebels near the China border.
Residents said the clashes flared up again Tuesday night when Kokang rebels, who had been largely dormant for almost six years, resumed attacks on military positions that they began on Monday.
“We were so terrified and hid in our house when the fighting happened last night, that’s why we fled to the Catholic church in Kun Lung town this morning,” Laukkai resident Nang Mon told ucanews.com on Wednesday.
So far, Nan Mon and another 20 people have sought refuge in the church.
“At least 500 people have already fled to China and some others have returned back to their relatives’ homes in Lashio. The town of Laukkai is very quiet, all shops are closed already and almost all residents have fled from their homes,” she said.
State media reported Tuesday that fighting continued in the Laukkai township and that four clashes had erupted there. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s military continues to clear the area.
Fr Stephen Sai Pyi, parish priest at St Joseph’s Church in Kun Lung, said the church has been “providing food to the fleeing people” and that he expected more displaced to come “seek refuge”.
China expressed concern on Tuesday and urged Myanmar to maintain peace and stability after renewed fighting that sent local people fleeing over the border to Chinese territory.
"China is concerned about the Myanmar situation. During the past two days, some Myanmar border residents, because of safety considerations, have entered China. They have been looked after,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing, without providing a number.
In 2009 more than 30,000 people flooded over the border into China as Myanmar's army launched an offensive against Kokang rebels.
The fighting earned Myanmar's then junta government a rare rebuke from Beijing, the country's powerful northern neighbor, which at the time was almost its sole ally on the international stage.
The recent flare up comes as conflict between the military and armed ethnic minority groups rages in other parts of Shan and northern Kachin states, casting doubts over government efforts to ink a nationwide ceasefire deal.
Myanmar had hopes to sign the long-delayed agreement on Thursday as the country celebrates its annual Union Day celebrations.
Myanmar's government, which replaced junta rule in 2011, has vowed to end the civil wars that have been flaring on and off since independence as a key part of its reforms.
Fighting has increasingly spread to northern Shan state, where last week the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) accused Myanmar's army of using two helicopter gunships against its positions in another part of Shan state.
More than 2,000 Palaung civilians from five villages have fled to the mountainous areas due to the fighting between the government troops and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on February 2 and 3 according to Ta’ang Women’s Organization and Ta’ang Students and Youths Union.
Additional reporting by AFP