Residents of Tha Hpan Zin, Kun Ohn and Hnaw Pin villages in Yedashe Township, Bago Region, who have been displaced by armed clashes, are still unable to return to their homes, according to local sources.
Fighting in these villages has been going on for over a week since the first week of January.
The villagers have been forced to flee their homes due to artillery shelling and arson attacks on their houses by the Myanmar Army.
Although the fighting has now subsided, local resistance forces are still clearing the area. Therefore, villagers have not yet been called back to their homes, said an official from the People’s Defence Forces Company 4 in Taungoo Township.
“We are still in the process of clearing landmines. That’s why we haven’t called back the villagers yet. There is only one monk left in Kun Ohn village. When fighting breaks out, it is normal for people to flee to avoid being hurt. Rumored names flee from the fighting in advance. Others only flee when their houses are burned down,” said the resistance official.
Some residents of Tha Hpan Zin village fled before fighting broke out between some resistance forces in the Bago Region and junta troops. But after artillery fire claimed the lives of villagers on 10 January and houses were burned down on 12 January, the entire village reportedly fled to safety.
A woman from the village said: “Earlier they had warned us to flee, but some stayed at the risk of their lives because of their livestock. On 10 January, one person was killed and one wounded when artillery shells hit Tha Hpan Zin. Some displaced people took refuge in the town. Some have gone to the east bank. Only the people are suffering.”
In addition to the ongoing fighting, villagers had to flee to Yedashe town and safer places on the east bank of the Sittaung River on 12 January, including families from five houses that had been burned down by junta soldiers allegedly for being PDF logistics team members.
According to locals, it is currently estimated that more than 5,000 people have been displaced from the villages of Tha Hpan Zin and Kun Ohn as a result of the fighting.
After clashes between the two sides on 25 December, residents of Ma Yoe Khon village, home to more than 400 households, and surrounding villages had to flee to safety until the fighting died down.
The owners of more than 40 burned houses in Ma Yoe Khon village are also struggling to make a living, according to reports.
Sent by KIC.