Tens of Thousands Affected by 1111 Operation in Mobye and Loikaw
By Network Media Group
Friday, November 24, 2023
Since resistance groups launched their 1111 Operation to drive out State Administration Council (SAC) from Loikaw, the capital town of Karenni State, and from Mobye in southern Shan State, at least 40,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and the regime’s air strikes.
According to a male staff member of Karenni Humanitarian Aid Initiative (KHAI), his organisation is cooperating with field teams from Karenni State Interim Executive Council and Free Burma Rangers to rescue many of the trapped people and assist with food and medical treatment for those in need.
People trying to escape the fighting in Karenni State have been fleeing to different areas, including Kalaw, Tigit, and Nyaung Shwe in southern Shan State, he said. After Pa-O National Liberation Organisation announced that they would help people in Hsihseng Township, the volunteer thinks many people will travel there. Although KHAI has been posting regular updates about the displaced civilians on its Facebook group, it hasn’t been able to tabulate how many people have arrived in Shan State.
While most people are trying to flee, there are a number of Loikaw residents who have refused to leave the town despite the dangers they face from constant fighting and shelling.
“Some people are afraid of being accepted if they go to a new place and leaving their homes because SAC has blocked all the roads in Loikaw,” a volunteer helping them said. “They told us that they would die in their home.” Although most of the town has already left, he said some people had only fled that morning.
SAC troops are stopping everyone at checkpoints around the town to search them, and there are reports they are making people pay them bribes to leave. Soldiers have refused those who have tried to cross the checkpoint to enter Taunggyi Township in Shan State, and these people are sleeping on the roadside or they’ve tried to return to Loikaw.
At least 60 civilians, including 6 minors, have been killed from November 11, when the operation started, until November 16. There were 27 by SAC jet fighter bombings, 26 by artillery and mortar attacks, and 7 were shot by regime soldiers.
