Thousands of people have fled their homes in and around the Karen (Kayin) State town of Kyondo since fighting broke out in the area over the weekend, according to local sources.
Residents still in the town told Myanmar Now on Tuesday that it is now controlled by junta soldiers and Border Guard Force (BGF) troops under the command of Myanmar’s military. Roads inside the town have been closed, they added.
According to local relief workers, only around 20% of residents remain in the town and surrounding area amid the heavy military presence.
“More than 7,000 have fled and can’t return, as the junta soldiers and BGF troops are still stationed there,” said a woman who has been working with displaced people in Karen State’s Kawkareik Township, where Kyondo is located.
Most of the displaced residents are from Kyondo’s urban wards, but people living in villages on the other side of the Haungthayaw River have also been affected, she added.
“This is the second time that Kyondo locals have been forced to flee their homes,” she said, referring to the displacement of some 20,000 civilians in the area in late January.
The latest attack on the town began on Saturday, after anti-regime forces, including several Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) battalions, launched assaults on junta bases in Kawkareik and Myawaddy townships earlier in the day.
The military responded with heavy artillery fire and air strikes on Kyondo and the town of Kawkareik, some 25km to the east. At least two civilians were reportedly killed at the time, while several others, including women and children, were injured.
In a statement released on Tuesday, one of the guerrilla forces involved in the clashes, the Lion Battalion Commando, claimed that 15 junta soldiers and two resistance fighters died during the fighting in Kyondo on Saturday.
According to residents, Myanmar army shelling also destroyed more than 30 houses in the town. They added that the number of confirmed civilian deaths in Kyondo has since risen to four.
Resistance forces also carried out attacks in Myawaddy Township on Saturday. Their targets included the Myawaddy Commercial Zone and a police station in the village of Thingan Nyi Naung, about 50km east of Kyondo.
“We managed to kill around 11 police and military officers, but a member of our alliance was killed, too,” said a resistance fighter who took part in the assault on the police station.
He added that nine people, including a police major, a police lieutenant, and the wife of a lance corporal, were captured alive. Several weapons were also seized, including seven AKs, seven G3s, an Uzi, an AK47, and a pistol.
The Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 1, which links Myawaddy to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, was closed for several hours on Saturday due to the fighting. The bridge was reopened in January after a three-year closure.
On Tuesday, the KNLA also seized control of a junta base on the Thai border in northern Karen State’s Hpapun Township.
