Myanmar troops retreat to Thai border bridge

Some 200 Myanmar military personnel withdrew to a bridge connecting the border town of Myawaddy to Thailand on Thursday following a days-long assault in the area by anti-junta rebels, according to an ethnic armed group spokesman and local media.
Myanmar’s military-run government is battling armed rebel groups on several fronts and has suffered a string of defeats in frontier areas.
The retreat of junta troops in Myawaddy, which is adjacent to Thailand’s Mae Sot, signals the potential loss of another key border trading outpost that has direct highway access to parts of central Myanmar.
On Thursday, around 200 fleeing soldiers were gathered at the border crossing into Thailand, said Saw Taw Nee, spokesperson for the Karen National Union (KNU), an anti-junta group leading the assault on Myawaddy.
Local news outlet Khit Thit reported Thai authorities were in talks with the soldiers to decide whether to grant them refuge.