Fighting has intensified in Tanintharyi Region near the Thai border, with junta airstrikes forcing residents to flee their homes.

Since November 10, heavy clashes have erupted as local resistance forces fiercely repel the junta’s offensive. A junta airstrike also destroyed the Myoma (main) market in Mawdaung Town, Tanintharyi Township.

On November 12, the junta airstrike burned down the Myoma market, the town’s clock tower, and a monastery, forcing nearly 2,000 residents to flee toward the Thai border, local sources reported.

Junta forces stationed in Mawdaung shelled areas where clashes were underway, and around 9:30 am on November 12, a junta Y-12 utility aircraft bombed the town.

“The plane kept circling the town, dropping bombs for almost half an hour. The ground shook again and again from the explosions. There are still people trapped inside the town,” said a 35-year-old woman who fled Mawdaung.

Explosions from the junta’s airstrikes and artillery shelling were clearly heard even on the Thai side, according to aid workers assisting displaced people arriving at the border.

Nearly the entire population of Mawdaung Town has been displaced, with around 2,000 residents taking shelter along roadsides and in rubber plantations near the Singkhon border checkpoint on the Thai-Myanmar border.

The displaced include many women, children, and elderly people. A small number have crossed into Thailand to seek shelter. Aid workers said displaced individuals are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance including food, medicine, and shelter.

Mawdaung, a key border trading town near Thailand’s Singkhun Town, has seen border trade come to a standstill due to ongoing fighting.

Tanintharyi Region is primarily the operational area of the Karen National Union (KNU)’s Brigade 4, where resistance forces have captured several junta military positions.

The KNU has accused the junta of using airstrikes to reclaim lost territory and intimidate local communities.