Regime forces wants civilians to return home after recapturing Hsihseng from the resistance, where fighting in the town in the Pa’O Self-Administered Zone has temporarily stopped.

A local said, “There are many challenges here. For one, there’s no electricity, no one is selling drinking water, fuel, or food rations in the town. If people get sick, there is no clinic for them.”

He explained that the regime is using a backhoe to clear the debris in the Myoma market caused by fighting between the Burma army and the Pa’O National Liberation Army (PNLA), which briefly captured the town in southern Shan State.

The PNLA has been fighting against the junta since it was attacked by regime troops and Pa’O People’s Militia Force (PMF) at the end of January, ending its ceasefire.

The man further explained that a committee for the administration of the Pa’O Self-Administered Zone met to discuss the repatriation scheme. Headmen of wards and villages were summoned to the April 22 meeting.

“Actually, people want to return home. The problem is they didn’t manage temporary shelter for those whose homes were burned during clashes in Hsihseng town.”

Although things appear calm in the town, the Military Council is frequently shelling the surrounding villages with artillery.

Three people, including two underage siblings, were injured by an artillery shell fired by the regime on April 25.

The Pa-O Youth Organization has reported that troops under the Military Council and the PMF are preventing people from outlying villages of Htam Yan and Pang Oun from leaving to tend to their farms.