The United States on Wednesday ordered the departure of non-essential diplomats from Myanmar, amid growing violence following the military coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Daily protests demanding the restoration of the elected government have been met with a military crackdown that has left more than 520 civilians dead in the weeks since the February 1 coup.

The junta's violent response has triggered international condemnation -- and threats of retaliation from some of Myanmar's myriad ethnic armed groups.

The US State Department said it was ordering the departure of "non-emergency US government employees and their family members".

The decision was taken to protect the safety and security of staff and their families, the State Department said.

World powers have repeatedly condemned the violent crackdown on dissent and hit top junta cadres with sanctions.

But the pressure has not swayed the generals. Saturday, the annual Armed Forces Day, saw the biggest loss of life so far, with at least 107 people killed.

The spiralling bloodshed has angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so armed ethnic groups, who control large areas of territory mostly in border regions.

Three of them -- the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army (AA) -- on Tuesday threatened to join protesters' fight unless the military reined in its crackdown.

While the trio has yet to act on their warning, two other outfits -- the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) -- have stepped up attacks on military and police in recent days.

A police station in Bago was reportedly hit with a rocket attack that injured five officers on Tuesday, though it was not clear who was responsible.

The KNU, one of the biggest rebel groups, took over an army base in eastern Kayin state at the weekend, prompting the military to respond with air strikes.

Further strikes were launched on Tuesday, but Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU's head of foreign affairs, said the group would continue its position of "strongly supporting people's movement against (the) military coup".

The KNU's Fifth Brigade put out a statement on Tuesday condemning the air strikes and warning it had no option but to "confront these serious threats" posed by the military.

-- Wounded cross border --

Around 3,000 people fled through the jungle to seek safety across the border in Thailand after the weekend strikes.

The Thai foreign ministry said late Tuesday about 2,300 have returned to Myanmar, while about 550 remain in Thailand.

Karen activists have accused the Thai authorities of pushing people back and accused them of blocking UN refugee officials from the area.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha insisted that there was "no influx" of refugees and that the kingdom's authorities had not "scared them off with guns or sticks".

Some Karen people injured in the weekend strikes sought medical treatment Tuesday on the Thai side of the border -- the most serious case was a 15-year-old with a collapsed lung and broken rib.

Thai police said they had intercepted 10 parcels containing 112 grenades and 6,000 rounds of ammunition in northern Chiang Rai province that had been destined for Myanmar's notorious border town Tachileik.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Myanmar on Wednesday, requested by former colonial power Britain.

The 15 members will meet behind closed doors, beginning with a briefing from the UN's special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener.

Wounded Myanmar refugees tell of air strike horror
Mae Suat, Thailand (AFP) March 31, 2021 - Civilians wounded in Myanmar air strikes on rebel positions spoke of their terrifying ordeal after trekking through jungle to seek medical treatment across the border in Thailand.

Military jets hit targets in eastern Kayin state over the weekend, as Myanmar reeled from the deadliest day so far in the junta's crackdown on anti-coup protests.

The strikes targeted territory held by the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the nation's largest ethnic armed groups, which had earlier seized a military base.

They marked the Myanmar military's first use of air strikes against the KNU in 20 years and sent around 7,000 Karen villagers fleeing for safety, according to the armed group.

Naw Eh Tah, one of a handful who managed to cross the Salween River -- which marks the border with Thailand -- on Tuesday to seek medical treatment, described the moment the bombs hit.

"We didn't hear the plane -- if we did, we would have run," the 18-year-old told AFP at the small Sop Moei district hospital in Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province.

"By the time I realised what was happening, the explosion hit the roof of my house.

"When I got hit, I couldn't walk -- I had to climb to hide."

- 'Bombs dropped so quickly' -

Her legs lacerated by shrapnel, Naw Eh Tah trekked for a day through dense tropical jungle to the river.

"We crossed because I can't stay -- the Myanmar army is all trying to get us," she said.

"I have never seen it (air strikes) before. I am so afraid."

The youngest to cross on Tuesday, a 15-year-old, was also the most seriously hurt, with a broken rib and collapsed lung.

Saw Lab Bray, 48, suffered shrapnel wounds all over his body when he was hit in KNU stronghold Day Puh Noh.

"I tried to run away but the bombs dropped so quickly," he told AFP from a hospital wheelchair, describing how he saw six people wounded and a man die.

"I fell on my side and was coughing blood. I'm afraid because I cannot run, I cannot move."

Doctor Chakri Komsakorm said the refugees looked like "they have been through war" with many shrapnel wounds becoming infected due to a lack of medicine.

He added that "many appear to have been starving for many days".

Chakri also said he had heard there were people with more serious wounds still trapped on the Myanmar side of the river, unable to cross because of the severity of their injuries.

Karen groups say as many as 3,000 people fled across the river into Thailand after the air strikes before being sent back to Myanmar, though Thai officials insist they were not forced back.

The Thai foreign ministry said late Tuesday about 2,300 have returned to Myanmar and about 550 remain in Thailand.

- 'Guns and sticks' -

Mae Hong Son Governor Sithichai Jindaluang told a news conference that refugees who had not been badly affected by the bombings agreed to go back when asked.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said they had not been "scared off with guns or sticks" and insisted the kingdom would not turn people away if the situation worsened.

The air strikes came as the junta struggles to quell nationwide protests demanding a restoration of the elected government and the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ousted in the February 1 coup.

The generals' ruthless crackdown has left more than 500 people dead, according to a local monitoring group, triggering international outrage.

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Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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Myanmar junta frees 600 detainees including AP photographer
Yangon (AFP) March 24, 2021
Myanmar freed more than 600 coup detainees on Wednesday, including an Associated Press photographer arrested while covering rallies, following fresh outrage over brutal crackdowns on protesters. The regime has unleashed a deadly wave of violence as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the February 1 ouster and arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The 75-year-old was due to have a court hearing on Wednesday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, on criminal charges that could see her ... read more