Dozens more killed

Raging battles on Myanmar's border with China have claimed dozens more lives, military and official sources said yesterday, as the mounting death toll landed a fresh blow to the government's faltering peace process.

Fighting broke out between troops and ethnic minority rebels in the Chinese-speaking Kokang border region in northeastern Shan State this month when insurgents dressed in police uniforms launched a surprise raid on security forces.

Thousands of people have since fled to China to escape the ensuing gun battles, artillery strikes and fires, leaving Laukkai deserted.

Military sources said 28 civilians and police have been killed, while the commander in chief's office has reported at least 46 insurgents have also died.

Three more rebels were killed on Wednesday during an army offensive in which "some military officers and other (lower) rank soldiers were killed and injured," it added.

State media reported on Tuesday that "dozens of soldiers" had also been killed in the escalating clashes.

The bloodshed has threatened to derail de facto leader Suu Kyi's efforts to seal a peace deal with Myanmar's ethnic minorities, some of which have been fighting the state for decades.

The UN said at least 50,000 people have fled their homes in Shan and Kachin States since September to escape some of the worst violence to grip Myanmar's restive border regions for decades.

The people of Kokang have strong bonds with Myanmar's giant neighbour -- locals speak a Chinese dialect and the yuan is the common currency.