Over 10,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyaukme and Thibaw (Hsipaw) townships of northern Shan State are experiencing shortages of food and medicine and urgently need assistance.

More than 10,000 residents of Nawngping Sub-township in Kyaukme Township have fled to Lashio City, Thibaw Town, and Pongwoe Sub-township of Kyaukme Township following clashes between the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the junta. A month later, these IDPs are facing severe shortages of food and medicine.

“They’ve been displaced for over a month now, and their food supplies are running very low. With the roads in the area blocked, it’s extremely hard to even buy rice. There are around 10,000 IDPs, so the need for aid is huge. Almost every village is now filled with displaced people, and the situation is even worse with more people fleeing from Naraikhkan and Sakhanthar villages,” said an aid worker who is helping the IDPs from Nawngping.

Around 9,000 people are taking refuge in more than 40 IDP camps in Kyaukme Township, with nearly 500 sheltering in temporary shacks on terrace farms. Buddhist monks from Pongwoe Sub-township are leading efforts to advocate for aid for these displaced people.

After fierce clashes, junta troops regained control of Nawngping and the surrounding villages. However, locals have still not been allowed to return, even though nearly a month has passed. Meanwhile, abandoned houses have been ransacked by thieves and burglars.

“Everyone wants to return to Nawngping, but we still haven’t been granted permission. If the junta delays this until it captures Kyaukme Town, it could take even longer. People who went back briefly said that nearly every house has been looted, with motorcycles and furniture also stolen” an IDP said.

Similarly, about 2,000 IDPs from Kyaukme and Nawngping, now sheltering in villages and wards like Hsutlan, Nawngan, Hkolong, Pangsoaming, Myohaung, and Naungein in Thibaw Township, are also facing food shortages as available aid runs low.

In the third week of September, two displaced villagers from Nawngpyit in Kyaukme Township were killed by a landmine while briefly returning home to collect belongings.

Currently, the junta’s Light Infantry Division 11 troops, stationed in Nawngping, are indiscriminately shelling the Union Highway with artillery and attacking Sakhanthar Village, about 7 miles from Kyaukme Town, using two columns, forcing residents to flee.