At least 15 to 20 villagers, including several teenage students, have been killed in some of Myanmar's deadliest fighting since July between government troops and resistance forces, reports said.
The fighting near Gangaw Township in the northwestern Magway Region started on Thursday, two days after a call for a nationwide uprising was issued by the National Unity Government, which is a group of deposed legislators.
Also watch: State of emergency extended in Myanmar as coup leader becomes PM
The opposition movement that rose against the army's February coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was initially peaceful, but gradually began fighting back after security forces used deadly force to break up nonviolent protests.
Media sympathetic to the opposition reported an outburst of small-scale shootings and sabotage by the resistance, particularly the toppling of cell phone transmission towers.