Hundreds of people uprooted by clashes between armed groups near a lead and silver mining area in Namtu Township are in desperate need of food.

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”They couldn’t bring anything with them when they escaped the fighting near their villages,” a man from Namtu, who didn’t want to be named, told SHAN. He said most were elderly people, women and children.

Nearly 300 people, 170 females and 105 males, sought refuge at Pokbayon Buddhist Monastery after fleeing fighting between the Burma Army (BA) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its allied People’s Defence Force near Kon Kayar and Sin Li.

The chair of the Letphet Nyunt aid group said they’d provided them with 5 bags of rice, 20 packets of bean curd, 1 packet of noodles, cooking oil and spices.

However, now that BA troops have taken up positions in Kon Kayar and the KIA and PDF have set up camp nearby, it’s unlikely that the civilians will be able to return any time soon, and they need more help.