Global Courant
YANGON – Myanmar’s junta on Saturday accused an armed ethnic group of attacking a vehicle convoy carrying Chinese soldiers en route to a border security meeting, an allegation the rebels denied.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military ousted democratically elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from office in a 2021 coup.
Fighting between the junta and opponents has ravaged large parts of the country.
On Tuesday, a vehicle convoy carrying Chinese military representatives and Myanmar counterparts en route to Myitkyina in northern Kachin state came under fire.
A vehicle that was second in line was shot at five times, the junta said.
The Myanmar security forces retaliated.
“We can confirm that members of the Kachin Independence Army or KIA attacked the convoy,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in an audio message.
The junta said no one was injured or killed in the incident.
But the KIA has denied responsibility.
“KIA did not attack any convoy,” KIA Colonel Naw Bu told AFP, adding that since Monday there had been heavy fighting in the area near where the convoy was attacked.
Comments have been sought from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In October 2022, dozens of people were killed when the Myanmar military carried out air strikes on a KIA concert.
Since the coup, more than 3,700 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group. AFP
