The interim National Unity Government (NUG) has provided $9K to help civilians displaced by the conflict in Karenni State, where the junta has been carrying out daily airstrikes and artillery attacks for the past week, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee.

Aung San Myint, spokesperson for the Karenni State Consultative Council, which is managing the donation together with the Coordination Team for Emergency Relief and Committee Representing Karenni State Hluttaw, said they need to buy more than 1,000 bags of rice a day to feed the more than 170,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), who make up over half of the 300,000 population.

Since Thursday, when the junta launched a major assault on resistance fighters and citizens in Loikaw, two-thirds of the population of 51,000 have fled. On Sunday, the junta cut off electricity and the water supply in the Karenni state capital.

“It’s a really difficult time for them. When they fled, they could not take anything with them and they have no money, so they are in desperate need of donations,” a source from the activist group Progressive Karenni People’s Force told Kantarawaddy Times about the IDPs. The group collects data on human rights violations and the conflict in Karenni State.

Earlier, the NUG had allocated $28K as emergency relief for the IDPs in Karenni State. The interim government was formed by politicians who were ousted when the military took power almost a year ago. It was joined by several ethnic armed groups as well as various ethnic parties and civil society organisations.