Refugees in north-eastern Myanmar's Kachin state have been forced to dig bunkers to take shelter from airstrikes and artillery attacks by government troops, a news report said Sunday.
The conflict between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels has frustrated efforts by the reform government of President Thein Sein to portray itself as a peacemaker.
Recent fighting has broken out near the Kachin Independence Army's stronghold at Laiza in the northern Kachin state, near the Chinese border, according to the Myanmar Times.
Government troops were reported to have overrun several rebel camps in the area during January 5-9, following airstrikes in late December.
The paper quoted U Than Htike Aung, a member of the Karuna Charity Group, as urging both sides in the conflict to protect civilians.
"I was shocked when I saw children living in bomb shelters in camps at Laiza," he said. "They told me it's a matter of life and death. I felt very emotional when the jets flew over my head and continued their airstrikes."
The government initially denied reports that jets were being deployed against the rebels, but later admitted it following internet postings of video clips of attacking jets and helicopter gunships.
Kachin rebels claimed they shot down a Myanmar helicopter gunship late on Friday, but government media Sunday said the chopper went down because of engine failure.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, quoted a Defence Ministry official as saying "two pilots and one flight sergeant who were on board sacrificed their lives for the country."
About 12,000 people displaced by the fighting, mostly women, children and the elderly, are in relief camps in the area, according to officials.
A total of about 100,000 Kachin refugees are in camps controlled by the rebels or the military.