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LINCANG, China: Hundreds of ethnic rebels have fled Myanmar into China where they surrendered their weapons after retreating from clashes with junta forces, a rights group said on Sunday.
Rebels from Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state, retreated after deciding they were no match for junta troops, the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma said in a statement.
The group said as many as 700 may have crossed into China and surrendered their weapons, but the numbers could not be independently confirmed.
Although junta troops have control of the Kokang region, the campaign warned that the situation remained tense and fighting could resume at any time.
Several Chinese security officials said they could not confirm that retreating rebels had crossed the border when contacted by AFP.
Myanmar has apologised to Beijing for Chinese casualties in three days of fighting, thanked China for helping refugees, and promised to protect Chinese citizens in Myanmar, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The report cited an unnamed Yunnan provincial government foreign affairs official.
Clashes in Myanmar's remote northeast have driven up to 30,000 refugees across the border in recent weeks, the UN has said, prompting China to issue a rare admonishment to its neighbour and ally to resolve the conflict.
The fighting that erupted this past week in Kokang violated a 20-year ceasefire.
However, "not more than 30" Kokang fighters – out of about 800 who had been fighting the junta – were left in the whole Kokang region, said Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News.
"About 70 retreated into China where they were disarmed and sent to the centres for refugees," he said, citing local residents.
The Yunnan provincial government has settled refugees from the conflict in Zhenkang and Gengma counties, where they have been provided food, accommodation and medical treatment, Xinhua reported.
Some refugees began returning to their homes in Myanmar on Sunday amid signs that the fighting had subsided, the report said, citing the Yunnan government official.
However, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Sunday that the main border crossing at Nansan near the fighting had been closed and a resident who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said no one had been allowed to cross Sunday morning.
China is one of the few allies of Myanmar's isolated junta, its main source of military hardware and a major consumer of its vast natural resources, despite Western concerns over the military-ruled nation's rights record.
- AFP/so
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