Friendly fire by the Burma Army killed 3 and injured 4 of their own troops, Tuesday, on the Mandalay-Muse Road, the largest Chinese border trade route, witnesses said.
The injured soldiers were hospitalized in Kutkai.
An exchange of fire between troops under Military Operations Command-16, based in Theinni (Hsenwi), Northern Shan State, happened between Nampaka and Nam-um at about 2 p.m., said witnesses.
The accident occurred between Burmese road security troops and reinforcements soon after brief fighting between road security troops and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) soldiers, from Battalion 9, under Brigade 4, local KIA sources said.
Fresh government troops have been deploying to the area to do road security since late last week, bringing hundreds of Chinese military trucks from Muse, the border trade town opposite the town of Ruili (Shweli), in China.
