Rebels in Myanmar’s Kokang region say fighting has intensified in the area since the military launched a large scale offensive against rebel positions this week.
Tun Myat Lin, a spokesman for the Kokang rebels, told VOA’s Burmese service the government is treating the offensive like it is handling a foreign invasion.
“It was very severe yesterday. From 5 a.m. through midnight, they were still fighting on the ground and they used artilleries. But then later, artilleries were used the whole night. Today, even til now, they are still using artilleries, and fighting is still happening on the ground,” he said.
He added that as many as 160 rebels have been killed or wounded in the fighting.