Residents of Bhamo District are concerned of fighting starting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) after hundreds of regime troops from the Burma Army’s (BA) Light Infantry Battalion 223 arrived in their village.
“The soldiers are staying here and fighting may break out at any time, which we don’t want,” a man from Mungding Pa, who requested anonymity, told KNG.
He told how 200 BA soldiers from Mongmit in northern Shan State arrived in Mungding Pa on 29 September, which is controlled by KIA Brigade 3, Battalion 12, and shot into the air when the regime’s forces entered their village in Mansi Township. Some people hid from the soldiers in the Christian church.
Some of the residents had only returned home in 2019 after fleeing to Bhamo town in 2012 to escape fighting between the BA and the KIA, while others were still preparing to return to Mungding Pa. Other villages affected by the violence a decade ago include Mong Hkawng, Nam Lin Pa and Mahkaw Yang.
