Fresh fighting broke out between junta troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near Momeik town in northern Shan State on Tuesday, prompting more than 300 residents of the town to flee.
The two sides clashed for more than one hour after KIA troops advanced to Lelgyi village, where junta troops were deployed. The village is about 6.4 km east of Momeik, which is called Mongmit in Shan.
More than 300 residents of the town fled to nearby villages on Wednesday, a resident of the town told The Irrawaddy. Only a few people stayed behind to take care of their homes, she said.
“Residents are worried that fighting will erupt again in the town. As there is no displacement camp, they have fled to villages where they think they will be safe. They would probably stay there for a week to wait and see what happens,” she explained.
KIA troops withdrew after the clash, but the regime responded with random artillery strikes around the town on Wednesday and Thursday, she added.
Residents of Lelgyi have also fled to nearby villages. The Irrawaddy could not contact them as communications were down.
The KIA and allied People’s Defense Forces briefly seized control of Momeik in the third week of January. The regime recaptured the town a few days later.
Some residents returned to the town in late April after the fighting ceased. The regime restored its administration in April with police and department offices returning to the town. The regime, however, still can’t open public schools a week after the new school year starts on Monday.
More than 300 homes and the central market were reduced to ashes by junta airstrikes in January. Homeless people are still taking shelter with relatives, and in monasteries and forests.
Twenty-seven civilians were killed and 12 others were injured in fighting in Momeik from January 1 to February 2, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation.
Infantry battalions 223 and 248 deployed in the Momeik tactical command, about 3 km outside Momeik town, carried out random artillery strikes on villages near the town from May 29 to June 4, according to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.
The ethnic army said the regime has been reinforcing its troops in Lashio, Muse, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Momeik and Nawnghkio towns in northern Shan State.
