A Tatmadaw convoy of over 200 soldiers in more than 40 military vehicles and two tanks was spotted in Muse District stopping at Pang Hseng (also called Kyukok) before proceeding to Mongkoe where intense fighting is breaking out with Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).
A local from Pang Hseng told KNG that most of the vehicles were parked at the town’s football ground in northern Shan State on 16 September, while the tanks were stored overnight at a military battalion. He said some of the soldiers were drunk.
Another source said half of them were Tatmadaw soldiers and the rest were members of People Militia Forces (PMFs) from Pansay, Kyin San Kyawt, Tarmonye and Myoma.
“Forty-four military vehicles, including two tanks, arrived at the 105-mile mark in Muse yesterday and left around 3:30pm today,” the Muse man told KNG.
Since the conflict began on 3 July, scores of Tatmadaw soldiers have been killed in fighting with the ethnic armed group MNDAA in Pang Hseng and Mongkoe Sub Township.
At least six civilians were killed in the fighting and more than 2,000 were displaced and sought refuge in the town of Pang Hseng, in other towns in Mongkoe Sub Township or in temporary camps in a field along the Chinese border.
