Junta soldiers are looting and burning the homes of displaced people who have fled fighting in Paikhun (Pekon) Town in Shan State’s Paikhun Township, close to the border with Karenni State.

Junta troops have been roaming through Paikhun Town looting and burning empty homes since 20 January 2025, according to a woman from Paikhun Town who is currently sheltering elsewhere.

She said to SHAN: “The junta is intensifying its military activities around Paikhun Town. Intense fighting is taking place in several villages of Paikhun Township, where the junta is shelling them.

Now, junta troops are wandering through Paikhun Town, burning homes and looting valuables. Our house was one of those targeted.”

Villages in Paikhun Township where people displaced from elsewhere (IDPs) are sheltering have been increasingly targeted by the junta with arbitrary artillery fire, putting both the locals and IDPs’ lives at risk.