Locals report that nearly 200 houses in Chaung Hnit Khwa village, located in Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State, have been completely destroyed due to looting and selling by the military junta and allied forces stationed in the area.
The joint force of junta troops stationed at the police station are looting and selling roofs, doors, windows, and poles from the houses, in collaboration with second-hand dealers.
Local village administrative bodies have been unable to speak out against the military junta allied group’s looting and selling of villagers’ homes.
The villagers, despite witnessing the destruction, are also in a state of fear and unable to speak up.
The military council warned the public that they could return to their village starting from 21 July 2024, after the fighting between the military council and a combined force of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied forces had stopped.
However, most of the locals returned to their village only to check and clean their abandoned houses, as the military council troops are stationed near the village. Afterward, they returned to their previous displacement areas. Only more than 50 households have permanently returned to the village.
Currently, more than 100 junta soldiers and police officers are stationed at Chaung Hnit Khwa police station and the surrounding area. The villagers have reported that the military council is conducting indiscriminate artillery shelling every day.
In the one-and-a-half-month-long fighting since November 2023 in Chaung Hnit Khwa, more than 100 houses were burned down, and over 30,000 people were displaced.
Sent by Than Lwin Times
