Thousands flee Myanmar airstrikes, complicating crisis

Thai soldiers began sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of airstrikes by the military in neighbouring Myanmar but Thai officials denied that as the insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a coup in Myanmar.

Thai soldiers began sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of airstrikes by the military in neighbouring Myanmar, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. But Thai officials denied that as the insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a coup in Myanmar. The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on protests of its February 1 takeover. On Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in and around demonstrations throughout the country — the bloodiest single day since the takeover. The violence by the Myanmar military — both on the border and in cities around the country — raised the question of whether the international community would respond more forcefully than it has thus far to a coup that ousted the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and reversed years of progress toward democracy.