A column of junta soldiers that has been moving through Launglon Township since 14 June 2025 has caused residents to flee from nearly 10 more villages in two village tracts in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region.
On 14 June the column of about 80 junta soldiers started moving through the villages south of Launglon Town. After about a week they stationed themselves in Kanyonkyun Village. 40 to 50 villagers, many of whom were elderly, who had not managed to flee in advance of the junta column remained in the village.
The junta soldiers forced the residents to stay in their homes and killed several of them. A junta soldier also allegedly raped a 70-year-old woman.
On 1 July, the junta column started moving through the villages in Launglon Township’s Sakhangyi and Myohaung village tracts, which forced residents of those areas to flee.
A Launglon Township resident said: Right now, junta soldiers are stationed at a monastery in Hpwarbokepyin Village (in Sakhangyi Village Tract). They're still firing artillery arbitrarily into the surrounding areas, so it's not safe yet for locals to return to their villages.”
Because of the way the junta soldiers have been behaving all residents in the area the column is moving through, including the elderly, have fled their homes. Currently, they are sheltering in the forest near their villages and are in urgent need of emergency assistance such as shelter, food, and medicine, according to an aid worker helping the displaced.
He said to KIC: “When the soldiers came, everyone in the local villages, including the elderly, had to flee, even though it was pouring with rain. They're sheltering in the forests, and some couldn't handle the harsh weather. But, they don’t just need shelter, they need medicine too.”
It is also very hard for the displaced villagers to earn a livelihood.
During the month of May 2025, the junta abducted 137 civilians in Tanintharyi Region. Of those, only 67 have been released so far, according to FE5 Tanintharyi, a Tanintharyi based non governmental organisation (NGO).
