DHAKA: Myanmar’s army has admitted a heavy weapons strike in strife-torn northern Kachin state that rebels say killed over 20 people.

The government-backed media said Friday, as escalation of the fighting cast doubt over faltering peace talks.

The military said its artillery hit a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training camp by accident in Wednesday’s incident, which the KIA said was one of the biggest single attacks it had faced in recent years.

“The army camp fired a warning shot of a large-calibre weapon which fell and exploded at a KIA camp, causing casualties”, reports the Straits Times.

The report said the incident, near the rebels’ stronghold town of Laiza on the border with China, was in response to earlier rebel assaults on its troops in the area.

BDST: 1717 HRS, NOV 21, 2014