The junta has threatened to seize the homes of internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled clashes near Kyondoe Town in Karen State’s Kawkareik Township, if they do not return immediately.
In April, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied resistance groups seized control of the main highway between Kyondoe and Kawkareik towns. However, in the last week of July, the junta launched an offensive and regained control of that road section.
During the clashes, many residents of Kyondoe Town took refuge as IDPs in Yoemahar and Kyarkalay villages in Hpa-An Township, Karen State. Now that the junta has firmly regained control of Kyondoe and surrounding areas, it is pressuring the IDPs to return, threatening to confiscate the homes of those who refuse.
“Right now, Kyondoe IDPs are staying in temporary tents near Yoemahar Village, just west of the Gyaing River Bridge. The junta has ordered that all these tents be torn down and is pushing everyone to go back to Kyondoe. They’re even threatening to take away the homes and property of anyone who doesn’t return,” said an aid worker assisting the displaced.
Despite the pressure from the junta, some IDPs still do not dare to return to their homes. Meanwhile, staff from junta-controlled departments have already started returning to Kyondoe.
As the junta continues to pressure IDPs to return home, the coup regime's artillery shelling targeting villages on the southern and northern outskirts of Kawkareik Town has intensified since late July, according to residents of Kawkareik Township.
“Lately, there’s been flooding in Kawkareik Township, and at the same time, the junta has been stepping up artillery fire around Kawkareik Town. It hadn’t shelled villages in the northern part of town for months, but now the attacks have started up again, day and night. There are rumors that the junta might be preparing a major offensive, though nothing’s confirmed yet. If that happens, locals could be forced to flee all over again,” a source from Kawkareik Township told KIC.
The junta’s artillery shelling is targeting not only villages to the north and south of Kawkareik Town, but also those south of Kyondoe Town, including North Kanmayaik and South Kanmayaik.
In July, four civilians were killed and several others injured in Kawkareik Township due to artillery fire by the junta, according to relief groups operating in the northern part of the township.
