The clashes broke out when rebels within the southern Karen state attacked a navy border guard outpost, in accordance with experiences in Thailand’s Khaosod English newspaper and BBC Burmese.

Myanmar’s navy authorities, which overthrew an elected authorities in a 2021 coup, is grappling with armed insurgencies in massive areas of the nation and has confronted international condemnation for its deadly crackdown on dissent and pro-democracy actions.

About 5,000 folks, lots of them girls and kids, had crossed into Thailand’s Tak province, and brought refuge in non permanent shelters arrange by native residents, in accordance with Thai officers and an assist employee.

“Many people crossed the border since yesterday and some are still also waiting on the Myanmar side to cross. People don’t have enough drinking water or any toilets for now,” a charity employee, who requested to not be named, advised Reuters.

Thailand mentioned its air power was monitoring the scenario and was “ready to send patrol flights if Thai airspace is violated”.

“The Thai-Myanmar border command centre in Tak province is working together with relevant agencies to provide safety and give assistance in accordance to humanitarian principles to all those who fled the fighting in Myanmar,” the provincial authorities mentioned in a press release on Thursday.

A Myanmar junta spokesperson didn’t reply telephone calls looking for remark.

Fighting has raged in lots of rural areas throughout Myanmar, and rights teams accuse the navy of focusing on civilians in air strikes and floor operations. Last week, not less than eight civilians, together with youngsters, had been killed in an air strike on a village in northwest Myanmar.

Myanmar’s navy rulers say they’re preventing “terrorists” and deny they’re focusing on civilians.