Myanmar air strikes reported in battle, internet cut in more areas

File picture of a screengrab showing young displaced children sheltering in holes dug in the forest in Myanmar's Pupun district near the border with Thailand, after the civilians fled air strikes in their home villages. - AFP

YANGON (Reuters): Myanmar's military launched air strikes at the weekend after clashes with fighters opposed to the junta in the Sagaing region, according to media and a militia member, as phone lines and the internet were also severed in some districts.

The country has been in crisis since the army seized power on Feb 1, ending a decade of tentative steps towards democracy and triggering outrage at home and abroad and the setting up of People's Defence Forces (PDFs) to take on the military.