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             Myanmar Declares State of Emergency in Northern Region

   by VOA News

   Myanmar has declared a state of emergency and imposed a three-month
   period of martial law in a northern region that has seen deadly clashes
   between government troops and ethnic minority rebels.

   The moves, announced in a late Tuesday television address by President
   Thein Sein, come as civilians in the Kokang region continue to flee the
   fighting, which has killed at least 50 troops and 26 rebels, according
   to government figures.

   On Tuesday, two people were wounded when a Myanmar Red Cross convoy was
   hit by gunfire as it carried civilians to safety in Laukkai, near the
   Chinese border. It is not clear who was responsible for the attack,
   though the government blamed rebels.

   Chinese state media estimated over 30,000 residents of Myanmar, also
   known as Burma, have fled across the border into China's Yunnan
   province over the past week, prompting Beijing to ramp up border
   controls and call for calm in the region.

   The Kokang rebels, who are mostly made up of ethnic Chinese, are
   calling for autonomy in the northern region, much like other ethnic
   rebel groups in other border regions of Myanmar.

   The Myanmar government, which has undertaken a series of reforms since
   2011, is trying to work out a nationwide peace deal with those groups
   ahead of elections scheduled for later this year.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/myanmar-declares-state-of-emergency-i
   n-northern-region/2648407.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/myanmar-declares-state-of-emergency-in-northern-region/2648407.html