80 Myanmar soldiers killed: Anti-coup group

By Pizaro Gozali Idrus

JAKARTA (AA) - At least 80 Myanmar military soldiers were killed in clashes with anti-coup fighters in the country's eastern Kayah State, the fighters said.

In a Facebook post, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), a new group of civilian fighters, said the clashes occurred when 150 troops marched from the state capital of Lolkaw to Demoso on Monday afternoon.

One of the fighters was killed and six others injured on Monday in shootouts which lasted into the evening.

“By 5 p.m. on Monday, more than 80 soldiers were confirmed dead and, in retaliation, the military used jet fighters, helicopters and launched artillery on Demoso,” the group said in a statement.

Fighting between the junta and the Karenni resistance broke out in Demoso on May 21 and has since spread beyond.

At least eight fighters and 23 civilians were killed by junta forces in 10 days, according to local daily The Irrawady.

Some 100,000 residents have fled their homes and sought refuge in places of worship and the forest, the daily added quoting local sources.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's military junta has killed one more person in the ongoing anti-coup protests taking the death toll to 841, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

A total of 4,443 people are currently under detention in Myanmar with 110 of them having been sentenced, the group said.

Myanmar's military ousted the government of Nobel laureate Aung Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 detaining her with several of her party members.