More civilians killed as fighting near Muse intensifies

At least six civilians have been killed so far this week during fierce clashes for control of Myanmar’s most important gateway to neighbouring China, according to local sources. The fighting near the northern Shan State town of Muse, located opposite the Chinese city of Ruili, began last Sunday when it became the latest target of an anti-regime offensive launched by an alliance of ethnic armed groups late last month. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a member of the alliance, said that it already has control of one of two outposts overlooking the 105-Mile Trade Zone, a commercial area located a few kilometres east of Muse, and is attempting to seize the second. On Monday, junta airstrikes carried out to defend the outpost killed three civilians, including two children, at a nearby farm. A fourth victim died the same day after being shot near a bank inside the trade zone. Since then, relief workers say that two more civilians have been killed and at least 20 injured, prompting Chinese authorities to allow local aid groups to bring them across the border to Ruili for treatment. “The latest fatality was a trapped villager who was shot yesterday while trying to escape on a motorbike. Another person was shot the day before at a Gurkha temple, apparently by a sniper,” said a rescue worker who spoke to Myanmar Now on Thursday. An estimated 1,000 people are still trapped in the area by the fighting, according to local aid groups. Cars from Laukkai at a toll gate on the Hsenwi-Lashio road (Myanmar Now) Sources noted that while China has allowed some critically injured casualties of the conflict to enter the country, it has also used tear gas to prevent other refugees from crossing the border. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people fleeing Laukkai, another heavily contested town on the China-Myanmar border, have also faced obstacles in their bid for safety. Many who have fled to territory controlled by the United Wa State Army, Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group, have been transported by truck to a town near Lashio, northern Shan State’s largest city. However, junta forces have prevented thousands hoping to take refuge in Lashio from entering the city, according to a Myanmar Now reporter who has witnessed the scene. Only those who can prove that they are residents of Lashio have been allowed to enter, forcing others to seek shelter in monasteries and homes in nearby villages. Residents of the area say that the sound of gunshots and artillery fire has become more frequent around Lashio over the past week, with the TNLA engaged in clashes just a few kilometres away from the city that also serves as the military’s headquarters for northern Shan State.

More civilians killed as fighting near Muse intensifies

While some casualties of the conflict have been allowed to cross the border into China, most other refugees have been prevented from doing so

Subscribe for full access

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Beyond the iron bars: Into a broader world of confinement

Burned, beaten, and hunted: Myanmar worker survives alleged torture in Thailand

In Myanmar’s heartland, desperation fuels a shadow trade in stolen identities

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

NLD symbols removed in bid to erase last vestiges of Myanmar’s ousted ruling party

Five villagers killed in Myanmar’s Bago Region, sparking calls for investigation

11 killed after passenger boat capsizes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

China’s Xi says ‘firmly supports’ Myanmar in safeguarding sovereignty