AFP

YANGON

A SERIES of attacks in conflict- hit northern Myanmar left at least four officials dead, state media said on Sunday, in rare acknowledgement of ethnic unrest that has marred the regime’s reformist image.

Rebels were said to have launched a deadly assault on a government office in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, where heavy fighting has raged for a year despite the new quasi-civilian government’s insistence that it wants to reach peace deals with the country’s various armed rebel groups.

“So, measures should be taken to avoid another incident..
Such a terrorist attack is totally unacceptable in the time of peace efforts,” said a report in the state mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar.

It said three other officials were missing following the attack.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by clashes between government troops and guerrillas with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which controls swathes of the state, since a 17-year ceasefire was shattered last year.

Conflict re-erupted in June as anger grew over a clutch of Chinese-backed hydropower projects in the region and fighting has raged since then.