The Myanmar Air Force dropped bombs to protect an army base that has been besieged by resistance forces.

Fighter jets carried out airstrikes in Myawaddy as rebel fighters surrounded the junta military camp on Wednesday.

Footage shows an explosion rocking the forest some two miles (three kilometres) from the Thai border province of Tak.

The attack was launched to fend off Karen National Liberation Army soldiers surrounding the base.

Thai authorities said the Ratchamanu Task Force was patrolling the border to prevent the encroachment of foreign soldiers and protect civilians.

At least 324 Myanmar residents have crossed the border to temporary shelter in Tak amid the fighting.

Myanmar has fallen into civil war following the removal of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, with a military coup in 2021.

Soldiers responded with barbaric force on protesting civilians leading to widespread condemnation and financial sanctions. Rebel groups and civilian militias around the country have since been locked in a series of ongoing clashes with the ruling military.

Aung San Suu Kyi has since been jailed for 33 years on politically motivated charges and is likely to die behind bars unless the army is toppled - a tragic end the politician hailed by Barack Obama as an 'inspirational icon of democracy'.