Intensifying clashes between ethnic rebels and Myanmar\u2019s army have forced tens of thousands of villagers into refugee camps near the Chinese border, according to aid workers and members of the clergy.<\/p>\n
Efforts by the Myanmar government to restart talks with leaders of the Kachin ethnic group appear to have failed, leading to a crisis that is developing just as the government is trying to introduce economic and political reforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the fighting is everywhere,\u201d Naw Din, a coordinator for a Catholic-run refugee camp in the northern town of Bhamo, said by telephone on Tuesday. \u201cWe are hearing bombing, night or day.\u201d<\/p>\n
A government representative met with leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization shortly before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Myanmar last week, but the talks were inconclusive. Fighting was was reported on Tuesday near the headquarters of the Kachin group, which has an army of several thousand fighters.<\/p>\n
More than 26,000 people have now been displaced by the conflict, according to a detailed tally by a Kachin aid worker who asked not to be identified in order to preserve her access to the troubled and remote region. A Catholic priest returning from the affected area on Tuesday said that some priests and nuns and clergymen were trapped by the clashes, which he said involved heavy weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fighting is intensifying now,\u201d the priest said by telephone from northern Myanmar. He said Kachin fighters had abandoned many of their bases and were now engaged in guerrilla attacks against the military.<\/p>\n