More than 5,000 thousand people from several villages have been displaced by over a week of fighting between the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) and the military backed by the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO) in Taunggyi District.

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“Burma army and PNO soldiers are staying in the village and have also burnt down some houses, so the residents are afraid to stay there and have fled,” a man, who is helping them, told SHAN on condition of anonymity about one of the villages affected by the fighting in Panglaung Township near Pekon Township.

Some people from Tawng Salon and Myauk Salon have taken shelter with relatives or in Buddhist monasteries in Panglaung and Nawng Tayar towns. Some of their homes in the villages in southern Shan State were damaged when the regime shelled the area.

An anonymous source close to the PDF said at least 10 PNO soldiers were killed. “Some PNO soldiers had just completed their military training, which is why there were so many fatalities…They were sent straight to the front line after their military training.”

The PNO has significantly expanded its troops by forcibly recruiting Pa-O people, villagers have reported.

Fighting between groups around the villages in Panglaung Township has continues and the regime is shelling villages and displaced camps at night. In Pekon Township, they also shelled villages with artillery and killed two people, including a student, on 28 February.

In Panglaung Township, at least four civilians were killed and six people are missing during fighting on 24 February.