Locals from three villages have fled to safer places due to the news that the military council will reinforce troops in Hsaingphayar village on Myitkyina-Hpakant road, a local told the Kachin News Group (KNG).
“We have heard the news that many soldiers are advancing. Nobody dared to stay there. Both sides are monitoring the situation,” a local said.
The people from Khwanhsaingzwat, Kathmaw and Gatnwe villages near Hsaingphayar village have fled to safer places.
The military council raided Hsaingphayar village on 18 April. During the raid, the military council arrested more than 50 locals including women and children from Hsaingphayar village as human shields.
The army took them to Hpakant with two 12-wheeled vehicles. The battalion-44 of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) ambushed the military convoy at the exit of Gatnwe village.
Six of more than 50 detainees were seriously wounded in the ambush. One wounded died on the spot.
A 14-year-old girl got serious wounds to her head and body was sent to Myitkyina hospital.
However, the doctors told the volunteers to send her back to her native as she is in critical condition, the news source added.
Following an ambush on the military convoy, the army released the detained civilians. The soldiers told the villagers who were released to stay inside the village and threatened to shoot villagers if they went outside and stayed in the forests.
The raid on Hsaingphayar village is linked to the fact that the army assumes that it is a KIA-controlled village, locals said.
On 12 April, the army deployed around 80 soldiers from Mogaung Township to Nantyar military camp. Currently, the army is planning to deploy more troops there.
Sent by KNG.