Residents of Lay Kay Kaw, a town south of Myawaddy in Karen State, have been instructed by local authorities to temporarily evacuate due to the threat of junta airstrikes and potential ground clashes.
Advancing junta troops have arrived and deployed in Nupo, Htimuhta, and Kwinkalay villages near Myawaddy, and there is a high likelihood of airstrikes in the area, prompting locals to begin evacuating in advance, according to an aid worker assisting the displaced.
“The security situation in Lay Kay Kaw is getting increasingly dangerous. Junta troops are already in Nupo, Htimuhta, and Kwinkalay, and on September 5 they even bombed Lay Kay Kaw’s hospital with drones, indicating that the situation is worsening. Town elders fear that airstrikes from aircraft could follow. Residents are now fleeing to villages along the Thaungyin (Moei) River, afraid that junta columns might reach Lay Kay Kaw. They are in urgent need of food and shelter,” he told KIC.
Currently, about 300 households, roughly 1,000 people in total, have fled from Lay Kay Kaw and five nearby villages.
“Now, it’s not just Lay Kay Kaw, people from villages like Yathaytgu have fled too. The junta-aligned Border Guard Force and Democratic Karen Benevolent Army that were stationed in Falu and Mehtawthalay have also withdrawn. No one can tell which direction the junta will advance from, and fighting is bound to break out again. It’s corn harvest season, but the situation makes it almost impossible to work, and workers are already scarce,” a Lay Kay Kaw resident said.
Military columns from both the resistance forces and the junta are currently conducting operations along Asia Highway 1 (AH1) toward Myawaddy, around Thingannyinaung village on the highway, and in the inner Kwinkalay area, with tensions rising and fighting potentially escalating at any moment.
Clashes erupted around Lay Kay Kaw in December 2022 as junta troops advanced, forcing residents to flee. Fighting subsided four months later, in April 2023, and on October 17, 2024, resistance forces captured the junta’s Swetawkone artillery base near Lay Kay Kaw. Residents returned after that, but they have now been evacuated once again.
photo credit - CJ
