Burmese officials say ethnic Karen rebels attacked a convoy of trucks and buses on a highway in southern Burma, killing eight people and wounding 15 others.
Officials say a gunfight broke out between security forces and the Karen National Union rebels during the pre-dawn attack Thursday on two trucks and 12 passenger buses along the Dawei-Ye highway between Dawei and Rangoon.
Among the dead were a university student and a teacher. The vehicles included two buses carrying students and lecturers from Dawei University.
The rebels are reported to have taken about 34-hundred dollars in cash and jewelry from passengers before the gunmen fled.
The KNU is the only major rebel group not to have signed a cease-fire with the military government.
Information for this report is provided by AP.