October 22, 2022
According to a statement by the Karen National Union (KNU), more than 8,000 residents have fled their homes for safety after military council troops fired artillery at and set fire to villages in Kyaikto Township in Mon State. The KNU statement also said that two residents were arrested by the junta soldiers.
“The junta troops shelled the village with small and heavy arms and all the residents fled their homes. They entered the village, looted the houses and burned them down,” said one resident.
On October 19, regime forces reportedly opened fire with light and heavy weapons on Peinhnekone village in Pyin Ka Toe Kone village tract, Kyaikto Township. Tensions between the two sides remain high as the military council continues to maintain a presence in the area.
After shelling the village with heavy weapons, the military council troops entered the village, ransacked the houses and seized valuables, and also set fire to six houses, according to the KNU statement.
Since October 13, the military council had entered the KNU-administered area in Kyaikto Township with two military columns of 500 men – one from Waikzar Mountain area and the other from the upper part of Ingapo Hill.
A junta military column of more than 100 soldiers, coming from Waikzar Mountain in the Kyaiktiyo Mountains, entered Kadaingdut village in the Kyauk Phyar village tract on Oct. 16, looting houses and taking valuables, the KNU said.
Another military column of 200 soldiers from upper Ingapo village had been deployed near Peinhnetaw village, said a KNU official in Kyaikto Township.
“About 500 soldiers from the military council are stationed near the village. They have come in two military columns. Some of them are deployed as ambush patrols,” the official said.
There have been clashes between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and invading junta troops in Kyaikto Township in Mon State, the KNU said.
Sent by NMG.