Kawkayeik, December (27)
Around 2,000 locals from six villages were forced to evacuate to safety during the fighting that took place near the Kawkayeik in Karen State as a result of mortar fire and aerial bombardment by junta troops, the relief workers said.
Clashes erupted in Kawkayeik Township between the junta army and the KNLA/PDF joint forces since December 16, and they continued until December 26.
Daily airstrikes and artillery assaults on localities have been carried out by regime forces.
Locals reported that the mortar shelling and aircraft bombardment that targeted civilians resulted in at least three civilian deaths, ten other injuries, and numerous homes being damaged.
Nearly 2,000 locals have fled the villages of Kawnwet, Kyauk Sayitkon, Tatontoo, and Ywarthitkon in the southern Kawkayeik as a result of the junta’s daily airstrikes and artillery fire. They are in need of food, warm clothing, and shelter.
The military council has increased the deployment of howitzers, 120-mm mortars, and multiple rocket launchers and tanks and conducted aerial bombings in the Kawkayeik battle with massive forces.
The fighting may intensify over the reinforcement on the junta side in recent clashes, said Kyaw Hein, squadron commander of White Tiger, an armed-wing of the KNLA joint force.
Fighting in Kawkayeik caused one bridge on the Myawaddy-Kawkayeik Asian road and the other on the Kawkayeik-Kyondoe road to explode, stopping traffic and forcing some vehicles to use the Htoekawkoe detour.
News-Than Lwin Times