Airstrikes and armed clashes continue in Myawaddy District near the Thai border
By Network Media Group
April 22, 2023
During the month of April, fighting has escalated between the Burma army (BA) and a combined force of multiple Karen resistance groups around Mekanel village in Myawaddy District in Karen State. The threat of airstrikes and ground troop attacks have force local people to flee their homes.
Local people report that intense clashes have continued in the area since early April. The fighting was particularly fierce between 18 and 20 April. Local people said that the junta carried out airstrikes against Karen resistance groups on 20 April.
“Clashes started to break out around 6 a.m. Around 9 a.m. jet fighters attacked and dropped bombs on the positions of Karen resistance groups,” a Mekanel village resident told NMG.
Local people living in the Thai–Burma border area said that Thai jet fighters flew over the border area to monitor the situation on the ground.
Local people said that after the airstrikes, ground clashes continued around Mekanel village, as well as in the Kyaukme and Kyauk Tawng areas in Dupalya District of the Karen National Union (KNU) brigade-6.
“After the jet fighters flew away, the BA continued to attack Mekanel, Kyaukme, Kyauk Tawng and surrounding areas. The BA fired artillery shells. They would fire two or three shells, pause, then fire two or three shells again,” the local man told NMG.
Intense clashes between Karen resistance groups and BA in Mekanel village and surrounding areas have escalated since 11 April. Local people said that BA soldiers burned down many houses in Mekanel village. Since 11 April, there have been on-and-off clashes in the area.
“An intense battle occurred on 11 April. Many houses were burned by BA soldiers and by artillery shelling. Clashes have continued in the area until today. Yesterday and today there was very intense fighting,” another local man told NMG.
People from Mekanel village have fled the clashes and taken shelter in safer places. Some IDPs have taken shelter in nearby villages and some IDPs are staying in the Mekanel Buddhist monastery. Volunteers who are helping the IDPs said that these IDPs need humanitarian aid including food rations and materials to build their temporary shelters.
