Thousands of villagers, including Catholics, have fled their homes as the military in Myanmar escalated attacks amid the UN Security Council’s move to hear reports from special envoys on the civil war in the southeast Asian nation.
The new flare-up between the army and the rebel groups, which also includes Christians, has prompted thousands of villagers in Demoso township in predominantly Christian Kayah State, a mountainous eastern region bordering Thailand, to take shelter in relatives’ homes and in forests, according to local sources.
They said at least 3,000 people have fled their homes since March 10 when the fighting increased.
“We heard artillery shelling and gunfire and saw many fleeing villagers taking refuge in relatives’ homes,” a local resident from Loikaw, the capital city of Kayah State, who did not wish to be named, told UCA News.
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