Six houses in Taungkyarinn and Laungkaing villages in Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 6 area in Doopalaya District were destroyed by 120-mm artillery shells fired by Hlaing Wa Artillery Battalion under No. 12 Military Command in Kawkareik at around 8 pm on December 11, locals reported.
The regime’s artillery fire destroyed two houses in Taungkyarinn village and about six houses in Laungkaing village, said a resident of Laungkaing village.
“Last night they [junta troops] fired 120-mm shells. They were fired at from the Hlaing Wa artillery hill under Sa Ka Kha 12. Regime soldiers stationed at the high school near Taungkyarinn Bridge and BGF members also fired mortars from their military bunkers. Two houses were reduced to ashes. Four houses in Laungkaing village were also destroyed,” the resident told Karen Information Center (KIC).
The resident went on to say that the details of the damage weren’t yet known as they hadn’t yet entered the village, but there were no casualties among the residents.
Locals also reported that the military council conducts nightly artillery shelling at night on villages in Kawkareik Township, resulting in further damage to houses and loss of property.
In addition, the regime has regularly sent combat patrols from Maungmaywarthit village to Taungkyarinn, Laungkaing and Winka villages, forcing residents to seek shelter in villages such as Kanmareik, Kyondoe, Ngartaing, Koetaing and Weikzarkone, according to one of the displaced people.
In addition, BGF members fire heavy weapons indiscriminately at villages in the evening when they get drunk, depriving residents of sleep at night and disrupting their livelihoods, according to one displaced person.
“The junta army patrols during the day and uses ambush patrols. They do this along the Taungkyarinn-Winka Road. BGF and DKBA also patrol the area. At night, junta soldiers and BGF members shoot rifles from their checkpoints when they’re drunk. They shoot with artillery. Usually then the villages in the south of Kawkareik are shelled with 120-mm shells from Sa Ka Kha-12 or LIB -97. At night we’ve to either hide in the bunkers or take shelter under the monastery. We can’t work. Now we’ve too little to eat because we can’t buy or sell our farm produce,” he told KIC.
In the southern part of Kawkareik, nearly 7,000 people have been displaced so far from about 30 villages since fighting broke out with military council troops nearly a year ago. Some return to their homes during the day and seek shelter elsewhere at night.
As locals flee the war, some are in dire straits due to lack of support and medical care, report people helping the displaced.
Sent by KIC.