More villagers flee homes in Sagaing Region and Kayin State due to Myanmar military airstrikes

By DMG 24 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
24 December 2021, Kayin State 

Mass civilian displacement has continued in Sagaing Region and Kayin State over the past 10 days as villagers have fled Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) airstrikes amid conflict between the junta and Peoples Defence Forces (PDFs), as well as ethnic armed groups.  

During clashes between the Tatmadaw and PDFs in Sagaing Region from December 15-22, the military conducted airstrikes using helicopter gunships, causing damage in several villages and forcing more than 100,000 villagers to flee to nearby forests, an official from an IDP aid group in Sagaing Region told DMG. 

“Battles are occurring daily. There are clashes, defensive fighting, guerrilla fighting. So, the regime council conducted airstrikes that killed villagers. Villagers have had to flee to nearby village monasteries and forests for their safety,” he said. 

The displaced villagers are facing difficulties with sleeping and inadequate clothing due to the weather being colder this time of year, he added. 

The displaced people (IDPs) are from more than a dozen townships in Sagaing Region including Kyunhla, Ye-U, Taze, Shwebo, Kawlin, Wuntho, Pinlebu, Kani, Mingin, Pale, Yinmabin, Salingyi and Kalay. 

In Kyunhla Township, aerial attacks from fighter jets and helicopter gunships in Sagaing Region killed at least 20 people of Yay Myet Hnar village on December 20 and one person from Gazunin village on December 22. 

The Tatmadaw conducted airstrikes on Lay Kay Kaw new town, a territory of the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Brigade 6, on December 23, and fired heavy weapons from Myawaddy town. 

Artillery shells and bombs landed near Lay Kay Kaw new town, Min Let Pan and Mae Htaw Tha Lay villages as well as in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, destroying homes and injuring people, said a source close to the KNU who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

“At around 10 p.m. last night, a military plane flew on Mae Htaw Tha Lay, Lay Kay Kaw, Min Let Pan and Sone Zee Myaing, and dropped two bombs. And we heard the sounds of firing heavy weapons for nearly 30 rounds. I heard some artillery shells hit Mae Sot. Residents have to flee right now,” he said. 

More than 100 villagers from Mae Htaw Tha Lay village have fled to the Thai border due to the Myanmar military’s airstrikes, according to the Lay Kay Kaw refugee relief team. 

The KNU on December 20 called on the United Nations to declare Lay Kay Kaw a no-fly zone in an effort to prevent further aerial bombardments by the Myanmar military. 

The military has not yet formally responded to the demand. 

Since December 15, fierce battles involving joint Tatmadaw and Border Guard Force (BGF) contingents against Brigade 6 of the KNU have been reported in parts of Kawkareik, Myawaddy and Lay Kay Kaw new town of Kayin State, as well as territories controlled by KNU Brigade 1 in Mon State’s Bilin, Thaton and Kyaikto townships.  

More than 10,000 people have fled their homes and taken shelter at refugee camps in Mae Sot and near the Thaung Yin River on the Thai-Myanmar border due to the fighting. 

Eight villagers, including some elderly, were injured during the Myanmar military’s artillery shellings and airstrikes, and are being provided medical treatment at Mae Sot Hospital, according to Myanmar refugee relief groups in Mae Sot.