Three residents of Moebye, Pekhon Township, were killed on Monday after the junta sent over 100 fresh troops to the town in a bid to regain full control, according to local rescue workers.
Nearly 150 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 422, which has a base north of Moebye in southern Shan State, advanced into the town’s residential wards on the previous day, leading to clashes with the anti-junta People’s Defence Forces (PDF) active in the area.
“They are trying to seize Moebye from us in order to open an easier route to Karenni State,” said Kyauk Saung, a battalion commander of the Moebye PDF (MBPDF).
“Fighting may break out again, especially if the military remains in the town,” he added.
After failing to expel the PDF fighters, who are still present in the.town, the junta column divided into smaller groups, then set up bases near the Set Taw Yar Pagoda and in the Nyaung Wine and Si Kar wards.
Soldiers stationed at the Leti monastery in Si Kar Ward (2) reportedly shot and killed two civilians who were on their way to their farms on Monday. Another local man, hit by the blast from an artillery shell, died at 2pm, according to the Moebye Rescue Team.
The man killed by the artillery shell lived in Kwat Thit Ward and was 40 years old, while the ages of the other two victims are unconfirmed, according to a Moebye Rescue Team officer.
“We retrieved the body of one of the victims that was shot dead in the morning. We still haven’t gotten the one that was killed in the evening, as they are still shooting in that area,” the officer said.
Nine civilians, including three children, have now been killed amid a series of battles that began in Moebye on May 27.
A battle that broke out on Sunday between the military and anti-junta fighters of the Moebye PDF (MPDF) Battalion-01, Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF B-03) and Urban Revolution Force (URF) continued through the entire day.
Around 10 junta soldiers were killed and two fighters among the allied anti-junta forces were injured, while intense shelling by the military resulted in the death of a 10-year-old child and set fire to two houses, according to the MBPDF.
Myanmar Now has yet to independently confirm the precise casualty figures, and the military council has not issued a statement regarding the battles.
A large portion of the area’s population has fled while a few have stayed behind.
According to a 20-year-old woman who was forced to leave her home in Moebye, nearly all of the town’s inhabitants left when they lost electricity and internet access, while others took shelter in religious buildings because they were unable to move.
“Almost nobody is left in the town. Those who don’t have motorcycles or cars are staying behind at monasteries,” the displaced woman said.
She added that there were now junta soldiers stationed in almost every ward of the town, and that all the shops had closed.
A woman whose home is in Si Kar Ward (1) said that a group of displaced locals who had been taking shelter at the monastery since May 27 left for Pekhon City on Sunday morning.
“A large portion of the population left. Entire villages left. I think they brought enough supplies for about five days but they plan to come back for farm work,” said the local woman.
A member of Moebye Rescue Team stated that locals “never go far”.
“The locals from Moebye don’t move very far. They usually come back when things have calmed down,” the rescue team worker said.
According to the Moebye Rescue Team officer, some locals were still finding it difficult to move to safer places amid the ongoing hostilities.
“There hasn’t been a battle yet today, but they fired several heavy artillery shells. Most of the civilians are gone now but it’s harder for some people to move very far,” he added.
The MBPDF battalion 1001 issued a public warning for civilians to avoid traveling the highway running through Moebye and connecting Loikaw, Karenni State, and Pinlaung, southern Shan State, due to the risk of battles breaking out nearby.
Neither the military nor civil society organisations in Moebye have yet released information on the exact number of displaced locals.
The fighting in Moebye has spread to the rest of Pekhon Township as well as Pinlaung Township, Shan State, which shares its northwestern border. Moebye is strategically important due to its location on the border between Shan and Karenni states, and on the road from Myanmar’s administrative capital Naypyitaw to the cities of Loikaw and Demoso, Karenni State.
For two years, the military has only succeeded in holding parts of Moebye, while most of the surrounding area, especially rural areas, has remained under the control of allied anti-junta forces.
