47 Soldiers Killed in Myanmar Clashes

Almost 50 soldiers were killed this week as government troops in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) battled Kokang ethnic rebels, according to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. The newspaper reported that 13 separate clashes and rebel attacks on army bases claimed 47 soldiers’ lives and injured more than 70. It did not report any rebel casualty figures, but the general secretary of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army told a Thai newspaper that two rebels were killed and one injured. That official also said that as many as 10,000 people have fled the area as the government launched airstrikes.