Rival Shan armed groups clashed in southern Shan State after their leaders came to the capital Naypyidaw for so-called peace talks with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing.

On Wednesday, September 28, civilians returning home from their farms were displaced by the violence that erupted between the Shan State Progress Party and the Restoration Council of Shan State about two miles from Laikha town in the township of the same name.

A man from the town, who requested anonymity, said 33 people fled there in three trucks and have since returned to their homes in Metlan. They stayed only one night at Waso Buddhist Monastery and Ho Fai Buddhist Monastery in Laikha.

”People suffer a lot when there is fighting near their village, and because the Shan forces are at war, it causes a lot of misery,” he said.

At press time, SHAN couldn’t ascertain if there were any casualties on either side. The groups also fought near the villages of Pan Haik and Kho Nam Tawng in Kehsi Township on September 21.