Burma-Myanmar: Shan State villagers flee fighting between fighters of Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and those of Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)
Over 1,000 locals in Namtu, northern Shan State have been displaced by fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
The two Shan State-based ethnic armed groups have been fighting each other since March 29 over territorial disputes in Namtu.
“There was also shelling besides exchanges of gunfire. All the villagers have fled in panic. My family is now staying at the house of a relative. Over 20 houses in our village were burned down by the artillery fire. We are in serious trouble,” said a resident of Panlong village.
More than 1,000 residents from Panlong have fled to Mansan, Pan Thabyay, Yay O and Nar Koh Leng villages and are taking shelter in monasteries and the houses of their relatives, said Nan Kham Aye, an elected Lower House lawmaker of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy party.
Nan Kham Aye won the seat representing Namtu in last year’s November election, but was ousted along with the democratically-elected government led by the National League for Democracy when the military seized power in their Feb.1 coup.