As many as 2,000 villagers from 12 villages in Mae Tha Waw areas have fled their villages in fear of being caught in the crossfire between the Myanmar army, Government backed Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army – Kyaw Htet (DKBA-KH) faction troops.
According to a Karen News report, armed skirmishes between BGF and DKBA-KH forces have intensified in recent days in a series of tit-for-tat engagements.Eyewitnesses and local villagers were quoted as saying that more than one hundred pick-up trucks fully loaded with Government soldiers were seen heading up to Mae Tha Waw areas and taking positions in Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State.
On September 10, villagers from the Mae Tha Waw area who live close to the Thai border, crossed the Moei River in to Thailand’s Tha Song Yang district seeking temporary safety from the fighting.
