The junta’s artillery attack killed at least five civilians and injured many more during clashes between regime troops and a combined force of KNLA and PDF in Kyondoe, Karen State’s Kawkayeik Township, the locals told Than Lwin Times.

On March 25 and 26, heavy fighting broke out between the junta army and the joint force of the KNLA and PDF in the townships of Myawaddy, Kawkayeik, and Kyondoe.

Many civilians were injured or killed by the military council’s airstrikes and mortar shelling in the battle, according to the residents and resistance forces.

The junta’s artillery fire killed three civilians, including a child, and injured many others from Aye Chan Tharyar village and Kyondoe, destroying many houses and buildings with fire, the locals said.

Furthermore, two people, including a child, were killed and some injured in Kawkayeik town as a result of mortar rounds fired by the junta in Kamaingkon village, which destroyed homes, including a monastery and school.

Several locals were forced to flee to safety as a result of the fighting that broke out in Kawkayeik and Kyondoe, and as of March 27, the military situation between the military council and resistance forces was still intense, according to locals.