AT least 30 people were killed Monday in a day of intense fighting in a town on Myanmar’s border with China, authorities said, after rebels dressed in police uniforms launched a surprise raid.

    Artillery and small arms fire continued throughout the day in Laukkai, a main town in the Kokang region of the northeastern state of Shan.

    The clashes are some of the worst to break out in the Chinese-speaking Kokang region since fighting in 2015 left scores dead and forced tens of thousands to flee across the border into China.

    Myanmar is already torn by various ethnic insurgencies. But the Kokang conflict has raised tensions with its giant neighbor.

    Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is desperate to end the decades-long borderland conflicts, but intensifying fighting threatens peace efforts.

    Rebels from the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched an attack early Monday against police and military posts, according to Suu Kyi’s office.

    A separate group of fighters later attacked locations in the main town.

    A government statement said at least five civilians and five local police were killed in the fighting.

    It added that a further 20 “burned bodies” had been found alongside weapons.

    Government spokesman Zaw Htay told AFP those casualties were MNDAA fighters. The Northern Alliance, an umbrella group of rebels including the MNDAA, confirmed its members were fighting in Laukkai.

    The latest fighting raises the spectre of a fresh refugee exodus into China.  (SD-Agencies)