Around 200 residents are trapped in Kin Mon Chone village and more than 2,000 residents from five villages have been displaced due to renewed fighting and military tension since the beginning of this month in Zayatgyi village in Htantabin Township in Taungoo District in Bago Region (East), according to local residents.
Between 5 and 9 August, the military council army clashed with the resistance forces. More than 2,000 locals from Kim Mon Chone, Doe Tan, Bagan Kwe, Nat Ywar, Hnit Tan Ku and Thahtaykone villages due to the military council’s artillery shelling and increased military activities in Zayatgyi area.
Amidst the military tension between the two armed forces, the military council army has blocked the passage of the Zayatgyi-Kim Mon Chone road and ordered them to shoot, so around 200 local people who fled the war and brought back their goods to Kim Mon Chone were trapped, a resident said.
“Those trapped are the displaced people who returned home to take back their belongings are trapped. No one dares go outside as the military council conducts airstrikes, declares martial law and issues shooting order without checks. They are trapped as fighting is taking place on that road in Kin Mon Chone and Shansu. They cannot be evacuated,” the resident said.
More than 2,000 displaced people are taking refuge at nearby monasteries. In the fighting on 9 August, the junta’s shelling killed and wounded some locals. Most of locals have fled, according to some locals of Zayatgyi.
A local man from Zayatgyi said: “The people from Doetan village don’t return home. They spend nights at the houses of their relatives and in the compound of pagodas. Now, the fighting remains clam. There are some people left in Zayatgyi town. Some shops remain opened. The people from Kin Mon Chone, Shwe Bagan and Doe Tan have fled.”
Currently, more than 2,000 IDPs in Zayatgyi are in urgent need of rations and basic necessities, according to a group helping displaced people.
Last February, there was a fierce battle between the resistance forces and the military council army in Zayatgyi area, and the military council army bombarded many residents several times, causing casualties.
On 9 August, the heavy shell fired by the military council killed three civilians, according to local media.
Sent by KIC.