Clashes between the Army and Karen rebels leave almost 90 dead in the last week
7 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Some 10,000 Burmese have fled to Thailand in less than 48 hours since heavy clashes broke out last Wednesday between the Burmese Army and Karen National Liberation Army militias in the town of Shwe Kokko, in Kayin state ( also called Karen), attached to the Thai border, in what is the largest population exodus since the military coup in Burma in February 2021.
The fighting has focused on the township of Myawaddy, a unique area of the state for hosting a major Chinese and Cambodian-funded urban development project, populated by foreign workers. Shwe Kokko, it should be noted, is home to several Chinese-owned casinos.
The Myanmar Now news portal, linked to the opposition, reports that the first skirmishes began last Friday, when an alliance of armed groups led by the Karen took control of a military base on the Salween River.
After a relative calm over the weekend, the skirmishes resumed on Monday to finish breaking out two days later in the form of simultaneous clashes in at least four towns in the municipality, including Me Ka Nei or Thingan Nyi Naung, where division units 44 Burmese Army Light Infantry responded to the assaults with artillery fire.
The fighting has resulted, according to estimates by the Karen militias to BBC Thailand, with at least 85 deaths on both sides during this new series of hostilities that continues the one that has been shaking the country since the military coup.
More than 3,200 people have died and 1.4 million have ended up displaced since the coup and the subsequent fighting between the Army and armed resistance groups.
The Karen militias have also taken control of the highway between Myawaddy and Kawkareik this Friday, one of the most important on the border, which will remain closed for two weeks.
