More than 1,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing ongoing clashes in Banmauk Township, northern Sagaing Region, are in urgent need of assistance.

“We haven’t received any help from the authorities or aid groups yet. What we really need right now is medicine,” said an aid worker.

Displaced since mid-September by fierce fighting in Banmauk Township, the IDPs are now enduring severe hardships and are in urgent need of assistance.

In the early days of their displacement, the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), Shanni monks, and local host communities provided the IDPs with food and medicine. However, as the number of IDPs continues to rise, the available assistance is no longer sufficient.

The Shanni Nationalities Unity Association (SNUA) announced on October 2 that the number of people displaced by ongoing fighting in Banmauk Township has risen to more than 1,500. Over 1,000 of them are in urgent need of emergency assistance.

Most IDPs are sheltering with relatives and, facing tightening livelihoods, are forced to rely on whatever exhausting day labor they can find. Some have moved to major cities like Yangon and Mandalay in search of work.

Fighting continues in Banmauk between the junta and the SNA alliance, and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)–Kachin People’s Defence Force (Kachin PDF) coalition. The KIA-PDF coalition recently captured Banmauk Town, and the SNA is launching a counteroffensive to retake it.

Ongoing fighting has forced over 500 households in Banmauk Town, more than 30 in nearby Khopyin Village, and 21 in Nyaungtharyar Village to flee their homes and seek refuge in other villages and monasteries.