Over 1,000 displaced Kachin who have taken shelter in Hpakant Township urgently require food, blankets, and warm clothing.
“We have provided these people with assistance with some remaining donation money,” a man helping them said. He mentioned that the weather is cold, and they really need more blankets and clothing to stay warm.
The people fled fighting in their village of Huay Hkar and have sought shelter in Hpakant town and at the Baptist church in Seng Tawng village. Over 700 are staying at Sein Mya Thukha Buddhist monastery in Seik Mu village, and 115 at the Maydikar Rama Buddhist monastery in Lon Khin village, where the abbot and the village headman have provided them with food and shelter.
After the Kachin Independence Army and People’s Defense Force seized a State Administration Council (SAC) camp in Huay Hkar on the morning of January 6, the regime retaliated with an airstrike and artillery attack on the Kachin soldiers, causing all the villagers to flee.
A woman from the village of Jamga said only a few people have stayed behind to mind their homes. The Kachin armed groups and SAC are exchanging fire in the village, she said, explaining how a shell has burned down a house there.
Huay Hkar village has over 500 homes and is situated between Hpakant and Mohnyin townships in Kachin State on the main road heading to the Hpakant jade mining area.
