Hundreds flee as Myanmar military bombards Dawei Twsp village

By DMG 29 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 August 2022, Dawei, Tanintharyi Region

As many as 1,000 people from Wakone village in Tanintharyi Region’s Dawei Township have fled to safer locations after heavy weapons were fired into the village from a military convoy, according to sources on the ground.

The residents of Wakone village fled their homes when more than a dozen Myanmar military trucks en route to Htee Khee on the Myanmar-Thai border passed the village on Saturday morning, a villager said.

The military fired at least 10 artillery shells into the village, the source added.

“A military convoy passed through the village on the Dawei-Htee Khee road at around 4 a.m. and fired artillery shells into the village. Almost all residents have fled to the nearby forest,” the villager explained.

No casualties were reported as a result of the shelling, but two homes in Wakone village were destroyed.

Another Wakone resident said the village had effectively been emptied pre-emptively, in anticipation of the military convoy passing through the area.

“The residents went into hiding as they got information in advance that the military convoy would pass the village,” he said. “No one was in the village when the military fired artillery shells into the village. Two homes in the village were destroyed by the shelling and no one dares to stay in the village.”

As of press time, the military council had not released any information about the shelling along the Dawei-Htee Khee road.

Shelter and food are needed for those displaced, according to local aid workers.

“At least 1,000 residents from Wakone village were displaced by the junta shelling and they are in urgent need of shelter and food. We have asked concerned organisations to provide the displaced people with relief items,” an aid worker said.

A clash broke out between junta troops and anti-regime forces led by the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), a military branch of the Karen National Union (KNU), after a convoy of military trucks heading to Htee Khee was attacked with landmines near Pakaryi village on the morning of August 26.