DHAKA: Myanmar rebels Saturday said the national army had launched fresh air strikes following the government’s rare admission that dozens of its soldiers had died in a dramatic resurgence of conflict in a remote region bordering China.

Unrest in Kokang, Shan State, which erupted on February 9 after six years of relative calm, continued on Friday with severe clashes between fighters from several ethnic groups and the Myanmar army, according to Captain Tar Parn La, a spokesman for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

‘There were gunships, two jets and two helicopters yesterday,’ he told the media, adding that he had not yet received reports of fighting on Saturday, says The Straits Times.

Myanmar state media on Friday reported that ethnic minority fighters armed with heavy weapons had attempted to capture the Kokang’s main city earlier in the week in a series of assaults that have left at least 50 soldiers dead and dozens more wounded.

BDST: 1616 HRS, FEB 14, 2015