Some displaced residents of Natthankwin town in Kyaukkyi Township, Nyaunglebin District, Bago Region – an area under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 3 – have been unable to return to their homes due to instability caused by the exchange of fire between the combined Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Myanmar Army in the town, according to local sources.
According to locals, around 20 resistance soldiers attacked the Natthankwin police station and some other military positions on 5 December. In response, the nearby Myanmar Army bases fired back with heavy weapons.
After the incident, the combined KNLA force warned residents to seek safety. Natthankwin residents then fled the town and some have still not returned home, according to a local.
“The lads (from the combined force) told us that planes will come after the clash. They warned us that we should flee to reduce the number of casualties. Since then we have fled. The next day they attacked the police station again. The shots were fired from a distance, so we didn’t hear anyone being hit. The situation has calmed down now, but some still don’t dare to return to their homes. Some have gone back and forth,” he said.
After the Myanmar Army fired more than 60 heavy shells, residents of more than ten villages in Kyaukkyi Township, including Thamininnkone, Kyeikkwin, Chaukthesu and Ahlelywar villages, are living on their own in displacement, according to locals.
“The people who have fled live where they feel safe. So how can civil society groups gather them and help them? They have to eat what they have. So must we,” said one local.
According to the 2014 census, nearly 9,000 people live in Natthankwin. After KNLA troops attacked and captured military bases in the town in June, more than half of the population fled the town, and some Myanmar troops have continued to take up positions in the town, including the town’s police station, according to local sources.
Similarly, three civilians, including a woman, were killed and four others, including an 8-year-old child, were injured during the four-day artillery shelling by the Myanmar Army in Kyaukkyi Township, a KNU statement said.
Sent by KIC.