YANGON -- A total of 2,458 internally displaced people have returned to Laukkai, the capital of Kokang region in northeastern Shan state, as situation there improved, an official report said Friday.

The displaced people, who returned to Laukkai, include those from Kongyan and Nyaukhwam and from borderpost No. 125.

They were brought back by military vehicles, the report said.

The government said stability has been restored in Laukkai, however, saying that some sporadic clashes with the Kokang ethnic army still occurred over the last few days as the government forces continued to comb areas of their hide-outs near Laukkai.

According to earlier local reports, a total of 1,314 Laukkai residents, who had taken shelter in Lashio, a big city in Shan state in the northeast, have also resettled in their hometown since last week.