More fighting feared as thousands flee Myanmar: activists

[Coventina]

Source: AFP

BANGKOK — Fighting between Myanmar's junta and ethnic rebel groups in northeastern Myanmar was expected to escalate after thousands of refugees fled to the Chinese border, activists said Thursday.

The exodus from Kokang in Shan state began on August 8 after Myanmar's junta deployed troops in the mainly ethnic Chinese region, said the US Campaign for Burma (USCB), which uses Myanmar's former name.

The USCB said "tens of thousands of ethnic people" had fled the region as China's Chongqing Evening Post reported that up to 10,000 refugees had arrived in the Chinese border town of Nansan in southwestern Yunnan province.

The exodus began after Myanmar sent dozens of military police to crack down on a gun-repair factory suspected of being a front for drugs production, sparking fear among locals, the report said.



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