Civilians in Kyaukme District’s Mantong Township continue to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict between Burmese government forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), according to an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

Nang Kham Aye, a Shan State Assembly representative of Namtu Township, told Shan Herald today that some 200 people from Mantong and Mong Maw had this week arrived in Namtu Township – 30 miles southeast of Mantong. She said that they have been provided shelter at local temples and churches.

“Fighting has erupted in the town of Mong Maw,” she said. “Gunfire was aimed toward the market early in the morning, causing villagers to run. They subsequently fled their homes.

“As of yesterday [November 30], some 170 people had arrived in Namtu. Most of them are children, women and elderly people. The menfolk have mostly stayed behind to look after their property.

“The number of displaced people [in Kyaukme] has now increased to nearly 800 since fighting between the Burmese army and the TNLA broke out on November 23,” she added.

Today, the TNLA’s News and Information Department posted on its website a report, saying its troops had clashed with Burmese government forces between the villages of Kongmong and Kongngaung in Mantong Township.

On November 20, the TNLA, a non-signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, launched a joint military operation alongside its allies – Arankan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – against Burmese military outposts and police stations in Muse, Namkham and Kutkai townships.

As of December 1, fighting was reported to be continuing.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)