Thiri Mingalar market (Taung Zay) in Loikaw of Karenni (Kayah) State where “11.11 Urban Operation” is under way, was burnt to ashes by heavy shelling on the early morning of 10 December, according to Loikaw residents.
“Since the evening of 9 December, the army has been firing heavy shells near Lawdhamma market. I heard a grocery store and some houses were hit by heavy shells. At midnight, the Taung Zay started to catch fire. The fire didn’t stop until 6 o’clock this morning. No one dared to put out the fire,” a local resident from Loikaw said.
At around 1 am on 10 December, the fire started at the market.
According to local residents of Loikaw, there is a lot of damage to the entire market due to the spread of the fire.
It is not easy to put out the fire in time as fighting is taking place in Loikaw, the locals said.
The military council’s heavy shelling destroyed the houses in Lawdhamma ward near the market and Thiri Mingalar market (Taung Zay).
The military council is firing heavy shells into Lawdhamma, Shwetaung and Mingalar wards where locals are still living.
Thiri Mingalar Market is a big market that Karenni locals have to rely on, and most of the locals have been coming to the market to sell the goods for more than 30 years.
“I heard that almost all the shops are burned down. I don’t know how to earn my living if my shop is burned down. I recently bought it,” a local resident from Loikaw said.
According to the figure in 2021, there are 1,062 shops, more than 400 hawkers and more than 500 vendors at Thiri Mingalar market (Taung market).
Since Operation 11.11 in Loikaw, most of the markets have been closed and residents have to flee to safer places.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.