Escalating conflict spurs mass exodus to Thailand

Fleeing to safety: People crossing the Moei River as they flee Myawaddy township in Myanmar to Thailand’s Mae Sot town in Thailand’s Tak province. — AP

About 1,300 people have fled from eastern Myanmar to Thailand, officials said, as fresh fighting erupted at a border town that has recently been captured by ethnic guerillas.

Fighters from the Karen ethnic minority last week captured the last of the Myanmar army’s outposts in and around Myawaddy, which is connected to Thailand by two bridges across the Moei River.