More than 3,000 residents are reportedly still fleeing the war as the junta troops continue to attack to regain the Tha Yet Kone military camp that had been seized by the People Defense Force (PDF) near Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region.
According to some locals, local residents of 15 villages, including Tha Yet Kone village, are fleeing because the military is attacking to recapture the Tha Yet Kone military camp occupied by the MDY PDF in Naungcho Township, Shan State.
“We see that the military junta is trying to recapture the Tha Yet Kone military camp by using both ground forces and airstrikes continuously,” MDY PDF spokesperson Ko Osmon told MPA.
The MDY PDF attacked and occupied the Tha Yet Kone military camp on the evening of April 15. This camp is only 10 miles away from Pyin Oo Lwin town and is an important camp for the junta.
“They (junta) fired heavy weapons towards Tha Yet Kone. They increased their force and attacked with ground columns, so all residents from the nearby villages had to flee. Those people fled the war to nearby relatives’ homes and monasteries,” said a resident of Naungcho Township.
The NUG’s Ministry of Defense announced that 59 junta soldiers were killed in the battle of Tha Yet Kone, which took place for a week from April 19 to 25.
During the fighting, the military junta conducted 32 airstrikes, 26 of which hit monasteries that were not military targets, and 8 of which exploded inside villages inhabited by civilians, according to the announcement of the NUG’s Ministry of Defense.