Locals report that makeshift huts of internally displaced persons (IDPs) were burned down following a clash between a local People’s Defense Force (PDF) and a military junta column in Kan and Pyin Pin Maw villages in Mingin Township, upper Sagaing Region, on 23 September.
On the morning of 23 September, a junta column first clashed [with the resistance fighters] in Kan village, about two miles north of the town, as they left Mingin Township. The junta troops then pursued the resistance fighters to the vicinity of Pyin Pin Maw village, about five miles from the town.
According to a local source, the armed confrontation broke out after farmers complained to the military council that they had been shot at by some defense members operating under the People’s Administration Team while working in the fields near Kan village. The junta then deployed troops, which led to the clash near Kan village.
“When people from our side go to work in the fields, the PDF members shoot at them from a distance. This has prevented us from doing a lot of farm work. After we reported this to the commanders, they sent a military column, which led to the fighting,” the source explained.
The junta’s advance forced residents of nearby villages, including Pyin Pin Maw, to flee their homes. In addition, the junta troops also set fire to the makeshift huts of the displaced people near the village, said a local resident of Mingin.
“The villagers had fled into the forest and set up huts there. These huts were burned,” said the local resident.
People close to the IDPs say that the huts housing over 100 displaced people also burned down, including those near Pyin Pin Maw village, the displaced are struggling to find shelter, and some are hiding in the forests.
In Mingin Township, the junta’s administration is only operational in the town and within a radius of around two miles, while the resistance forces control most of the rural area.
Sent by Shanni Voice.