residents and local media said, in what appeared to be a widening offensive against junta troops.
Gunfire has rocked the northern Shan state town of Lashio, home to the military’s north-eastern command, since late on July 2, one resident told AFP.
“Since last night, we have been hearing shooting targeting the regional military command… we dare not to go outside,” they said, requesting anonymity.
Fighting was happening outside the town, another resident told an AFP correspondent, who heard one explosion down the phone.
She said the military had closed all roads into Lashio, but that some shops in the town were still open.
Videos uploaded to social media showed a wooden building destroyed and partly in flames, and local media reported six civilians had been killed in shelling.
Lashio sits on a major highway that runs from the second city of Mandalay to China’s Yunnan province. ST.
