KYAUKME, Myanmar (AP) — Kyaukme, a once-thriving town in Myanmar’s Shan State, is in shambles, targeted by both sides in the Southeast Asian country’s bitter civil war because of its strategic location at a key junction on the trading route to China.

The army allowed an Associated Press photographer to join a trip supervised by pro-military Myanmar media, the only representative of foreign media who was permitted to do so. The military doesn’t allow a free press and bars journalists from entering conflict zones independently.

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