Burma-Myanmar: Fleeing Shan State conflict, 400 villagers take refuge in Namtu town
About 400 internally displaced people (IDPs) have fled their homes in Namtu and Mongton townships and taken shelter in Namtu town, according to local sources, following the latest clashes between the Burma Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State.
“Yesterday, 177 people arrived. They were from Nam Hai village in Mongton township,” said Nang San Hown, a lawmaker from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Namtu Township.
Last week, between Nov. 24-26, Nang San Hown counted another 196 IDPs arriving in Namtu town. Those people were fleeing the conflict in Mong Tat, Mong Zin, Nar La, and Pang War villages, in Namtu and Mongton townships.
Since Nov. 20, a coalition of four ethnic armed groups has carried out a military offensive against the Burma Army in northern Shan State. The ethnic armed groups include the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).