Armed soldiers loyal to a turncoat warlord patrol the streets of southeastern Myanmar's frontier town of Myawaddy, as troops of the ruling junta and rebels jostle for control of the outpost that handles more than $1 billion in border trade every year.

(Reuters) - A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the rebels had this month wrested the key trading post, an official said on Wednesday.

Resistance soldiers were forced to leave Myawaddy, a key trading center on the border with Thailand, weeks after capturing it.