Thousands flee Myanmar clashes

Fighting between Myanmar government troops and ethnic fighters has sent at least 10,000 people fleeing into Thailand a day after the military-led nation held a much-criticized election. Clashes were reported on Monday at key points on the border with Thailand, leaving at least three people dead and 10 others wounded on both sides of the frontier. The clashes follow a demonstration by the fighters over Sunday's general election, Myanmar's first in 20 years, as well as attempts to force ethnic minority troops to join a border guard force - which would put them under state control. A simmering civil war has wracked parts of Myanmar since independence in 1948 and observers say the state's determination to crush ethnic anti-government fighters appeared to have increased in the lead up to the election. In the heaviest fighting, Karen fighters reportedly seized a police station and post office on Sunday in the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy. Sporadic gun and mortar fire continued into Monday afternoon.