BANGKOK: Myanmar's military government on Tuesday denied reports it carried out an air attack on a school in the country's turbulent northwestern region that killed at least seven children, accusing the media of distorting the truth.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the Southeast Asian nation's ruling military council, acknowledged at a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw that there had been fighting last Friday in Tabayin township in the Sagaing region. But he blamed the government's armed opponents for the casualties, which, in addition to children sheltering at the school, included six adult villagers.