Karen resistance forces set fire to several government offices in Phayathonesu, Karen State, on Monday 23 January.

According to locals, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) burned down the offices of the Military Security Affairs and General Administration Department, as well as immigration and municipal offices in the town in Kyarinseikgyi Township on the Thai border.

One man, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals, said he heard gunfire between resistance groups and the military a few times after the offices were destroyed at 10pm and some shots fired the next morning, but he didn’t say who was responsible.

“At the moment, everything has calmed down in the town,” he explained, and the next day people went back to business as usual. However, some people, fearing that fighting might flare up again, crossed the border into Thailand.

As neither the regime’s information departments nor those of the KNLA and the PDF have confirmed the attack on their online portals, NMG couldn’t determine whether there were casualties on either side.

The KNLA and the PDF have attacked several police stations and army camps in the township and clashes with the military in Karen State have increased this month.

The KNLA’ s political arm, the Karen National Union, informed civilians on 16 January through its branch in Dupalyar District that vehicles were banned from Kyarinseikgyi to Phayathonesu, which is related to the fighting.