SIX INJURED AS MYANMAR SOLDIERS CLASH WITH REBELS

BANGKOK, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Six civilians – three Thais and three Myanmar --
were injured in Mae Sot district, Tak province of Thailand as Myanmar soldiers
continued their clashes with rebel troops near the Thailand-Myanmar border
Monday.

Acting government spokesman Dr Panitan Wattanayagorn said those injured were hit
by four or five grenades which accidentally landed in Mae Sot district, just
across the Myawaddy town of Myanmar where the gunfights took place.

Their identities have not been ascertained yet.

Panitan said a car and a motorcycle were also damaged by the bombing incident.

He said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had assigned the Defence Ministry and
Interior Ministry to monitor the situation.

According to him, the Thai government expected some 5,000 Myanmar people to
cross into Thailand tonight to seek shelter as the result of the clashes.

"The Thai government will help them on humanitarian grounds and hope they can
return home when the situation improves," he said.

Mae Sot district chief Kittisak Tomornsak said more than 6,000 Myanmar refugees
had fled to the district during daylight.

It was reported that hundreds of rebel troops occupied several key
government buildings in Mae Sot in protest of an election denounced as "not free and
fair" by one Karen military leader who heads the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) rebel faction.

Millions of Myanmar voters cast their votes yesterday in their first election
after 20 years, which the international community regarded as a scripted poll to
legitimise the military rule in that country.
-- BERNAMA