Fighting escalates in eastern Myanmar as army holds out against resistance push on key border town
Associated PressBANGKOK — Fighting appeared to be escalating in Myanmar on Wednesday as guerrilla fighters from the Karen ethnic minority and pro-democracy forces battle soldiers holding on to a major trading town on the border with Thailand, witnesses said. The fall of Myawaddy, which is also Myanmar’s most active trade crossing with Thailand, would be another major setback in the army’s war against resistance forces seeking to topple the military-run government. The Karen National Union — the leading political body for the Karen ethnic minority — said last week that its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, along with pro-democracy allies, had captured a regional army base at Thin Gan Nyi Naung on the road to Myawaddy. Three residents of Myawaddy, who live near Infantry Battalion 275 garrison, told the AP by phone that they took shelter with other locals at Buddhist monasteries near there when fighting intensified on Tuesday.