THE BUZZ: Rebels deny attack on Red Cross-protected refugees

Kokang ethnic rebels battling Myanmar’s government in the country’s north have denied a claim that they attacked a truck flying the Red Cross flag that was carrying refugees fleeing fighting in the area. Kokang spokesman Htun Myat Lin says the report by state media of Saturday’s attack was untrue, and that his group did not even have forces in the area of the alleged ambush.
The state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported that the rebels used heavy weapons to attack a truck carrying 15 refugees, wounding five people, including a TV cameraman from state-run Myanma Radio and Television. The two sides traded similar accusations about an attack Tuesday on a seven-car Myanmar Red Cross convoy carrying 100 people that wounded a driver and a Red Cross volunteer.