[ad_1]
Many of the targeted villages are controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed group that holds large swathes of territory in the border areas.
A 5-year-old boy died in a bomb attack on Sunday and a 12-year-old girl was hit in the face by shrapnel, according to the humanitarian organization Free Burma Rangers (FBR). The girl had come to Day Bu Noh village to go to school, the group said.
A high school in Dwe Lo County was destroyed in an airstrike on Monday, but no casualties were reported as students were in hiding, FBR said. On Tuesday, six people were killed and 11 injured in airstrikes near Hsaw Hti township.
In a statement Tuesday, the KNU condemned the Burmese military’s bombing campaign. “Villagers, including minor children, have been killed by airstrikes,” the KNU statement read. “Many are injured.”
CNN has not been able to independently verify these reports.
Residents fleeing the violence have fled to several neighboring countries, including Thailand and India.
Myanmar security forces have killed at least 521 people since the coup, with more than 2,600 detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisonniers (AAPP) advocacy group.
Rebel groups in ethnic states
More than two dozen ethnic armed groups have been fighting against the Burmese army – known as Tatmadaw – and against each other, for more rights and autonomy for 70 years.
Fighting in some of these areas has increased since the coup.
Many ethnic armed groups, including the KNU, spoke out in support of the protests and condemned the military takeover.
The KNU said it attacked a military outpost near the border with Thailand on Saturday morning.
In its statement on Tuesday, the KNU said it had taken control of the outpost “to stop terrorizing the villagers and allow people to return safely to their communities.”
The rebels said Myanmar military troops were now moving into areas controlled by the KNU, despite a ceasefire in place since 2015.
“Thousands of Burmese ground soldiers are advancing in our territories from all fronts,” the KNU statement read. “We have no other choice but to face these serious threats posed by the army of the illegitimate military junta in order to defend our territory.”
In a report released Tuesday by the military-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar, General Min Aung Hlaing accused the KNU of “dancing to the tune of countries and organizations” that oppose the junta.
This weekend’s crackdown is the first time in 20 years that airstrikes have been carried out in KNU-controlled territory, said David Eubank, founder of Free Burma Rangers.
The group urged the international community to provide humanitarian aid to its population fleeing the “onslaught” of the army and to pressure the ruling junta to stop using weapons against civilians. “We are very concerned for the safety and security of our civilians,” the statement said.
Flee beyond borders
Thousands of people have fled Myanmar to neighboring countries, raising concern and alarm in the region over a potential influx of refugees.
Since the airstrikes, 3,000 people have tried to cross the Salween River into Thailand and 2,000 have been pushed back, according to the KNU.
The activist group Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), which operates in Karen state and refugee camps in Thailand, confirmed that the airstrikes had forced 10,000 people in the state from their homes and 3 000 had entered Thailand.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that on Tuesday the country provided medical treatment and other assistance to seven people injured as they fled Myanmar. Six ambulances were deployed to take them to hospital, the ministry said in a statement. Assistance was also provided to vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly.
“These people could not return to the other side of the border yesterday, despite their wish to return home, they had also expressed their fear of air raids,” the statement said. “The authorities concerned have ensured that this particular group of people is well taken care of and that they are ready to return home when the situation is deemed safe.”
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday his government had failed to push back those who entered the country.
“There are a lot of people who entered some villages (from the Thai side), and when we found them, we talked to them. After asking about their problems in your country, they said, he didn’t ‘That’s no problem,’ Prayut said at a press conference.
“We didn’t force them (to come back) with guns,” Prayut added. “There is no way to push them back if the fighting is still going on. But if there is no fighting now, can they go home?”
He had previously said that while his government did not want refugees to cross the border, they were preparing for a potential influx.
Thailand has hosted tens of thousands of refugees in nine main camps along its border with Myanmar for three decades, following armed conflict, human rights abuses and persecution of ethnic minorities by the Myanmar army.
Most of those who crossed the border this weekend are from Mu Traw district, where the shelling was concentrated. Many of them are people who have already fled their homes and live in the Ei Tu Hta IDP camp.
Hundreds of people also traveled through western Myanmar to the neighboring Indian state of Mizoram. A network of locals and activists helped facilitate their crossing and provide shelter for many homeless people in India.
The chief state minister strongly opposed their deportation to Myanmar, telling CNN earlier this month: “They are not criminals.” However, the federal government has not publicly announced what it will do with the newcomers.
Meanwhile, in China, a Covid-19 outbreak has been blamed on those fleeing Myanmar. Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar to the south, detected nine cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, four of which are Burmese nationals.
The Yunnan Health Commission has launched a testing program in Ruili City and has locked the city down with inbound and outbound travel suspended. In a statement, the commission added that local authorities would crack down on illegal border crossings from Myanmar.
Chinese officials also accused Myanmar smugglers of increasing the number of cases in September, with deputy police director Ruili telling reporters there were “asymptomatic Burmese cases illegally crossing the Chinese border.”
China, along with Russia, recently blocked the United Nations decision to condemn Myanmar’s military.
CNN’s Helen Regan contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link