'126 soldiers killed in clashes with Kokang army'

The Myanmar government on Sunday said 126 soldiers have been killed and 359 injured so far since the clashes with the Kokang ethnic army erupted on February 9, media reported.

During the 253 engagements with Kokang's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) as of April 15, the government troops have seized 74 bodies of the MNDAA, arrested 22 and confiscated 226 arms, ammunition and narcotic drugs, Xinhua news agency reported.

During its latest offensive, the government forces seized four more strategic hilltops taking control of the key locations of Laukkai, the capital of Kokang region.

Meanwhile, peace negotiators of the Myanmar government and the ethnic armed groups concluded negotiation of a draft nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), which was preliminarily signed in Yangon on March 31.

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), in an open letter, has demanded Myanmarese President U Thein Sein to stop all offensives against the Kokang ethnic army.