More than 300 civilians from eight villages in northern Shan State’s Namtu township have fled their homes amid simmering tensions between two ethnic armed groups which have previously clashed.
The residents have temporarily taken shelter at the Shwe Myin Thar Monastery in Namtu, according to U Aung Sann Myint, secretary of the committee assisting displaced people in Namtu.
“They arrived on May 11. They are from eight villages under Hsaik Hkawng Village Group in Namtu township,” he said. “The total number of refugees has risen to over 300 today [May 15] as a few more people arrived today.”
He said that 92 number have been displaced.
The residents said they were afraid to remain at home due to hostilities between the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
“The RCSS entered Hsaik Hkawng Village Group [on May 11] … They left after meeting with the village head. The TNLA arrived at around 8pm that same night. They arrested the village head Sai Aik Nyunt and his brother-in-law Sai Aik Shwe,” said Sai Han, from the Tai Youth Organization. “They bound the two men with ropes, beat them and hit them with the gun barrel. They also fired shots into the village. The villagers became scared and fled.”
Sai Han said two of the displaced villagers were being treated in the hospital after they were beaten up and shot by soldiers.
He added that he was not aware of any fighting between the two ethnic armed organizations.
However, the TNLA information office posted on Facebook that two clashes broke out between the TNLA and the RCSS in Taw Pe village in Kyaukme township, and in Ruu Nan village in Namhsan township on May 15.
The TNLA said they also fought in the area between Khun Kaw Village and Taw Pe Village in Kyaukse township from May 13 to 14.
The TNLA’s information officer, Major Mai Aik Kyaw, denied rumors that the TNLA had threatened, hit or shot at local residents.
“As far as I know, our troops and the Burmese Army were there on the 11th. The RCSS also arrived. The village is in the center. All the villagers fled after they got scared. We didn’t do anything to the villagers,” he said.
“All the villagers who fled are from Shan village. We don’t enter Shan villages,” he added.
Fighting between the RCSS, a ceasefire signatory, and the TNLA, a non-signatory, sporadically erupted in both 2015 and 2015. In May 2016, more than 500 civilians in northern Shan State were displaced by the clashes, which were eventually resolved through political negotiations.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron
