Thousands flee fighting in southern Shan State’s Pa-O region

Thousands of people have fled fighting near a village in southern Shan State’s Pinlaung Township since intense clashes erupted in the area late last week, according to local sources. The conflict began when anti-regime fighters launched attacks on a joint force of junta and Pa-O National Army (PNA) troops near the village of Hsawng Pyaung at around 5am on May 17, a man from the village told Myanmar Now. “I was still in bed when the fighting broke out. It began in the morning after the resistance forces entered the area, and spread along the lower path of the pagoda hill to the west of Hsawng Pyaung,” the man said. He added that the regime has conducted at least two airstrikes a day since the fighting started. Heavy artillery fire could still be heard west of the village late Thursday, other sources said. Hsawng Pyaung is a village of around 800 households, with a population of around 5,000. At least 3,000 people have fled to the towns of Pinlaung and Naungtayar due to the ongoing fighting. Most left with only the clothes they had on and are now struggling to find adequate shelter and food, according to one of the displaced villagers. “We didn’t have time to take anything,” said the villager, adding that the greatest challenge was finding rice and cooking oil. Neither the junta nor the resistance forces have released any official statement about the conflict. Pinlaung Township is part of the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone, which is controlled by the Pa-O National Organisation, the political wing of the PNA. The group is led by junta ally Aung Hkam Hti. In June of last year, more than 500 regime troops advanced into Pinlaung Township, sparking clashes with resistance forces that forced more than 10,000 people to flee in search of safety. An official from the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA), a rival Pa-O armed group fighting the junta, said that the military is concentrating its offensives south of the town of Pinlaung in an effort to reassert control over the Moebye-Hsihseng road, a key route linking southern Shan State and Karenni (Kayah) State. The junta has recently sent around 400 new “people’s militia” recruits into the area as reinforcements, the PNLA official said, adding that it is also relying heavily on airstrikes and drones in its operations. A spokesperson for the Pa-O Youth Organisation, which documents human rights abuses in the Pa-O region, said that with both sides increasing their troop presence, civilians would likely be displaced for an extended period.

Thousands flee fighting in southern Shan State’s Pa-O region

Most of the displaced fled only with the clothes they had on after clashes broke out suddenly late last week

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