Clashes in Myanmar’s southernmost region disrupt traffic on crucial route

Resistance sources in Myanmar’s southernmost subdivision, Tanintharyi Region, said traffic was severely restricted this week on the Myeik-Dawei road, a major supply and transport route, due to ongoing clashes with junta forces in Thayetchaung Township. Fighting broke out near the police station in Win Wa village near the road, a resistance member said, blocking freight trucks and passenger buses on their routes. An alliance of fighters from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and People’s Defence Force (PDF) had been assaulting the station since April 18. “Even small cars are having trouble getting out of the village, with some passengers taking the water route to Myeik and Dawei instead,” the resistance member told Fe5 Tanintharyi, a group monitoring the conflict in the region. A naval ship stationed offshore near Thayetchaung Township’s Ka Net Thi Ri is also providing artillery support to the army troops, according to regional outlet Dawei Watch News. The junta air force also carried out two airstrikes near the Win Wa police station on Friday at 9:20am and 11:30am, according to local media. The number of casualties and injuries is not yet confirmed. Travel on the Myeik-Dawei road—a segment of Myanmar’s Route 8—has been restricted to daylight hours due to ongoing clashes since Thursday, according to orders issued by the Thayetchaung Township People’s Defense Team (PDT). Travel is forbidden between 7pm and 5am, according to the announcement released by the PDT, which also disclaimed any responsibility for damage incurred by travelling the road outside these hours and warned of action against any activity suspected to be aiding the military. Fighting has displaced around 6,000 people from their homes in Thayetchaung Township. Facing food shortages, they are receiving what little support residents of neighbouring villages are able to provide, according to a source familiar with conditions in the township. He noted that the displaced people were in urgent need of antimalarial drugs, treatment for injuries, and medicines for cholera. According to a resistance member in Tanintharyi Region, the blockage of the Myeik-Dawei Road has severely slowed the flow of goods into villages south of Thayetchaung, causing shortages of fuel oil and other necessities. Near the Htee Hta hill camp, which was captured by the KNLA and its allies on April 19, there have been four cases of cholera reported in addition to the ongoing food shortages. Situated just over five miles west of the junta-controlled town of Htee Khee on the Thai-Myanmar border, the Htee Hta camp was a significant strategic loss for the Myanmar military. According to Fe5 Tanintharyi, the junta is also fighting KNLA and allied resistance forces on the road to Kawthaung, another border crossing on the Karburi River opposite Ranong, Thailand.

Clashes in Myanmar’s southernmost region disrupt traffic on crucial route

In addition to shortages of food and antimalarial drugs among the displaced in Tanintharyi Region, several cholera cases have been reported near recent battle sites

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