Clashes in Myanmar

Battles between Myanmar soldiers and antigovernment rebels in February killed at least 80 people and forced thousands of civilians to evacuate the northern state of Kokang, on the border with China. Most of the fighting was confined to Laukkai, the capital of Kokang.

The insurgency is believed to have started with the return of Pheung Kya-shin from his exile in China. Before his exile, Pheung had been the chairman of the Kokang Special Region as well as the leader of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, a former rebel army that had signed a peace deal with Myanmar in 1989 and joined with the government. 

Pheung was forced to flee to China in 2009 when his officers betrayed him and Myanmar troops raided his illegal opium factories.

Kokang is home to the Kokang people, a minority ethnic group in Myanmar. Minority groups in Myanmar have sought more autonomy from the government, and the government was due to sign a peace deal with all of them in March, but rebel leaders have said that a peace deal is no longer possible.