Thousands flee Myanmar regime offensive in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme Township

More than 8,000 people have fled their homes in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme Township amid an ongoing offensive by junta forces to retake territory they were forced to surrender last year. Sources told Myanmar Now that at least 30 villages have been abandoned in the township since the start of the offensive, which began after the regime’s recapture of Nawnghkio in mid-July. “Many people have moved to villages in the southern part of Kyaukme Township under the control of the SSPP,” said a representative of the Tai Student Union, referring to the Shan State Progress Party, an ethnic armed group. “Residents cannot stay in their homes as their villages keep getting hit by heavy weapons and airstrikes,” he added. According to local social welfare groups, there are more than 2,000 people sheltering in the village of Nam Han Hkein alone, with another 1,000 seeking refuge in He Kwi and 700 in Pong Woe. Roughly 5,000 others have been sheltering in 39 other villages across southern Kyaukme Township, the groups said, adding that they all face an urgent need for food and other essential supplies. “We couldn’t reach every location to provide help. Although we have donated food supplies, it is insufficient to meet the needs of all the displaced,” said a local volunteer. Clashes erupted between junta troops and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in the area around Nawng Ping, a village near the border between Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships, in early August. Controlled by the SSPP, Nawng Ping lies less than 13 miles south of Kyaukme, a town seized by the TNLA in June of last year. In a statement released on Thursday, the SSPP said that it had provided food and other supplies to more than 6,000 displaced people sheltering at Nam Han Hkein, He Kwi, and other villages. The group also claimed that civilians had been killed and injured in Nawng Ping amid the ongoing clashes, and that several houses had been damaged, but did not provide any further details. The TNLA has offered to hand over Kyaukme and Hsipaw, another town under its control, as a condition for a ceasefire, but Myanmar’s regime has demanded that the group withdraw from all towns that it has seized since last year. Talks hosted by China broke down earlier this week over the junta’s insistence on reclaiming all of its lost territory by force, according to a TNLA official. Earlier this week, junta troops took control of a section of the main highway near the Goteik railway viaduct, which links Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships, as fighting intensified near Nawng Ping. On Sunday, a blast destroyed part of the iconic colonial-era bridge. At least 10 people, including children, were killed last week when a junta warplane carried out aerial assaults on a monastery in Pin Tee, a village in Kyaukme Township sheltering around 400 displaced people.

Thousands flee Myanmar regime offensive in northern Shan State’s Kyaukme Township

More than 8,000 people from at least 30 villages have been displaced by the junta’s efforts to recapture territory lost last year

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