Nearly a thousand people are in need of food after fighting in Muse District in northern Shan State forced them to flee their villages at short notice.

According to a relief worker who requested anonymity, over 800 civilians from 7 villages in Mongkoe sub township have drained most of their supplies and some are getting by on just one meal a day. He said they’re being housed in churches and monasteries in Mongkoe town.

To make matters worse, the many checkpoints around the town make it difficult for volunteers to deliver supplies to the displaced villagers because they’re afraid of Burma Army (BA) soldiers, who sometimes confiscate food and medicine and arrest people for no apparent reason.

A man trying to bring rations for victims of the war told SHAN on condition of anonymity that soldiers threatened him when his vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint. The source said that the army was searching every vehicle and that very little food had reached the town since last Saturday.

Another source, who also asked that his name not be published, said that most people in the town are Kachin and Ta’ang sugarcane farmers affected by the conflict between the BA and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which has been ongoing since August last year. As the border is currently closed, they also cannot export their sugar cane to China.