Local residents reported that regime forces attacked Saung Num Gae on Monday, setting fire to more than 40 houses in the village in Pekon (Phaikhun) Township.

“I feel so terrible that the Burma Army (BA) deliberately burnt down all the civilian houses in Saung Num Gae,” a man from the township told SHAN on condition of anonymity.

Another anonymous resident said that after the BA troops finished in Saung Num Gae, they started searching the houses in the surrounding villages.

All the residents of Soung Nan Khe had already fled to their relatives in Pinlaung or other towns after the regime launched air strikes on the village on the border with Karenni State on 12 May.

BA soldiers clashed with the local branch of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) in the area. The resistance forces attacked a regime checkpoint at Hti Yi in Nyaung Shwe Township on the same day as the airstrikes, capturing alive 5 soldiers, including an officer, and killing at least 15.

On Tuesday, PDF fighters were forced to retreat from the frontline after being subjected to excessive attacks from both ground forces and airstrikes.