Four civilians were killed and several others injured as fighting continued over the weekend in Karen State, southeastern Burma, where several hundred people also fled their homes amid the conflict.
On Saturday, an artillery shell landed on the road that links the town of Myawaddy and Kawkareik village at about 11 am, killing four people and injuring several others at a small eatery where a group of travelers had stopped for lunch.
Maj. Saw Zorro, a liaison officer from the Karen National Union (KNU) in Myawaddy, said it was unclear who was responsible for the deadly incident.
“One shell landed in the village [Kawkareik] and hit travelers. But we don’t know who fired it. Four died and at least five got injured. Those who got injured have been hospitalized at the local hospital in Kawkareik,” said Saw Zorro, whose KNU is the largest Karen armed group in Burma. Other media put the number of injured as high as 10.
Three people, including a boy, were killed on the spot, while a fourth victim succumbed to his injuries in hospital, according to Saw Zorro.
Meanwhile, separate fighting also continued on Saturday in the Mae Tha Waw region of neighboring Hlaingbwe Township, with the Burma Army trading fire with the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), forcing hundreds to flee their homes.
The fighting broke out on Friday, and continued into the weekend. More than 200 people in Mae Tha Waw, a border village across from Thailand’s Tha Song Yan District, crossed the Moei River and into Thailand seeking safety.
The Thai army provided food and temporary shelter to the villagers, but sent them back across the border on Saturday despite the on-and-off nature of the conflict.
“They [DKBA and the government army] fired artillery at each other’s bases. The villagers were afraid of it, so they fled to the Thai side on Saturday and were sent back in the evening,” said Saw Zorro.
Fighting between the DKBA and government troops has been taking place intermittently since late September in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, and farther south in Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw Township. One DKBA and one KNU soldier have been killed in separate standoffs with the Burma Army and government-aligned militants around the town of Myawaddy.
Despite bilateral ceasefire agreements having been signed between the government and almost all of Burma’s ethnic armed groups since 2011, tensions between rebel armies and government forces in areas of Karen and Mon states have been rising since September. Recent fighting has also been reported in Shan and Kachin states, in Burma’s east and north, respectively.
