Amid mass displacement from northern Shan State town, residents’ families fear for their safety

As clashes intensified this week in the northern Shan State town of Mongmit, residents’ families said they were increasingly concerned for their loved ones’ wellbeing. A Mandalay resident told Myanmar Now that he had been out of contact with an older brother in his 40s living in Mongmit’s Taung Paing Ward since January 18, when fighting broke out between junta forces an armed coalition of anti-junta fighters led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). “We were still in touch before fighting broke out in Mongmit,” he said. “I’m at a loss for words. It’s beyond what I could imagine. The town has been almost totally deserted, according to people who have fled from Mongmit to Mandalay recently.” Ma Thidar, a resident of Mongmit’s Kyitawsu Ward in her 30s who was displaced by the mid-January battles, was in anguish over the safety of five family members from whom she had been separated. “I have been out of touch with my older brother and his family since December 18. I am really worried about them,” she said tearfully. Ma Thidar is one of around 60 people displaced from Mongmit who are now taking refuge at the same monastery in Mandalay. “I heard that our house was hit by a junta shell, and we don’t know how much damage there was. But we had already lost everything before we left,” she added. Ma Thidar said that on the night she fled Mongmit, about 30 people including her relatives and neighbours hid inside a bomb shelter as a group of five junta soldiers raided and took over a boarding school near her home. “We were woken up at dawn when they forced their way onto our compound,” Ma Thidar recalled. “They robbed us of everything, all our belongings and our mobile phones. They also found us and took all the men from the shelter, including my two brothers and uncles,” she added. The captive men were reportedly released later that day when junta troops moved on from their position near Nhamaung Creek, which runs south of the town. “They ordered us at gunpoint to get out of the bomb shelter,” one of the released captives said. “They tied our hands behind our backs and brought us to the boarding school. They also yelled that they would kill us soon.” At least 40 bodies including unknown numbers of junta troops have been cremated by volunteers in Mongmit according to local sources, who also confirmed that fighting is ongoing in two of Mongmit’s residential wards: Kyitawsu and Haw Nan (Haw Kone). Myanmar Now was unable to verify precise civilian casualty figures due to the difficulty of communicating with sources still inside the town. The KIA, joined by members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front and the People’s Defence Forces, have been attacking junta positions in Mongmit Township since January 18, overrunning a police station and seizing control of the villages of Shwe Zar Li and Ahr Than. The Kachin ethnic armed organisation and allied forces also captured the town of Mabein in Mongmit District on Sunday. Since the onset of fighting in Mongmit, junta forces have carried out a series of air and artillery strikes on the town, causing extensive damage to one of the town’s main markets as well as residential and religious buildings.

Amid mass displacement from northern Shan State town, residents’ families fear for their safety

Battles that have already caused extensive damage and forced most residents to ‘desert’ the town are reportedly ongoing

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