Seventeen bodies in Burma Army uniforms were discovered by a civilian at a junction near a abandoned village in Muse District where no one has lived for a long time.

The bodies were lying next to a vehicle where the bodies of two women with gunshot wounds were also found between Nam Hu and Yihku villages, Mongkoe sub township, a male source told SHAN.

No one knows for sure if they’re really Tatmadaw soldiers who were killed during the conflict.

Although there’s always fighting in the region of northern Shan State, “we’ve never seen anything like this in this area,” said a youth from Mongkoe town, explaining that the discovery was reported to the township authorities.

More than 600 villagers have been displaced by shelling by the Burma Army (BA) during fighting with Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in the sub township.

MNDAA and BA were fighting near Nam Har and Kawng Lon villages on the morning of 29 August with BA, when an artillery shell hit a house, killing four members of a family, according to a Shan youth helping villagers affected by the conflict.

The fighting, which has intensified recently, is hampering rescue efforts, the youth said, and making it difficult to access the damage to villages in the area.

According to another source, about half of the displaced villagers have found refuge at the Mang Pang Buddhist monastery in Mongkoe, while the rest are sheltering in a Christian church and market in the town. “I think more IDPs (internally displaced persons) will arrive in Mongkoe today,” he said.

The latest conflict between MNDAA and BA began in early July. There are over 200 IDPs from the villages of Hpoung Seng, Mang Pang and Pan Mwe, staying at a camp on the Chinese border in Muse District.