Junta’s Brutal Scorched Earth Revenge in Kawlin 80% Township Burnt Down after Recapturing it from KIA
The Military Council burned down 80 percent of Kawlin town, which is located on the border of Sagaing Region and Kachin State, after retaking it from resistance forces, according to the local People’s Administrative Teams (PATs).
Since February 12th, the Junta has regained full control of Kawlin town, and soldiers have been burning down neighborhoods in the town on a daily basis.
A People’s Defence Force (PDF) member told KNG “Based on the accounts provided by residents, we estimate that approximately 80 percent of the town has been already burned down. Nearly all sections of the town have been reduced to ashes, with the exception of the vicinity surrounding the downtown police station and the general administration office.”
On February 23rd, Kawlin Revolution (KR), a news outlet focused on Kawlin, reported that 80 percent of the town had been ravaged.
“The military situation remains tense, but it is not appropriate to disclose specifics. There are on-going military tensions in Kawlin, and additional confrontations could arise at any moment”, a source close to resistance forces said.
Furthermore, the Junta troops destroyed transformers in the eastern part of Kawlin, resulting in town-wide power outages.
“The guards protecting the transformers on the eastern side of Kawlin were forced to retreat by the Military Council, who fired warning shots, then the soldiers destroyed the transformers. This is the reason behind the prolonged power outage in the town”, a Kawlin resident explained.
Currently a total of 25,000 individuals residing in Kawlin downtown and nearby 25 villages have been displaced for nearly a month and are in dire need of urgent aid.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), more than 2.6 million people have become war refugees across Myanmar as a result of military conflicts sparked by the coup staged by the Military Council.
