Two displaced villagers from Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State, were killed on September 21 after stepping on a landmine while attempting to return home to collect belongings.

The victims, identified as Sai Thaut Kyar (39) and Sai Moe (45) from Pang Ma Loke village, were traveling by motorcycle toward nearby Nawng Pyit village when the incident occurred at around 3:00 p.m.

“Some of their belongings were still left in the fields. They went back to get them but stepped on a mine between a rice paddy and a sugarcane field. When they did not return, we went to search and found their bodies,” a displaced villager told SHAN.

Nawng Pyit village, about four miles from Pang Ma Loke, has seen frequent clashes between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and military council troops. Although fighting has subsided, residents have not been able to return due to landmine risks.

More than 200 IDPs remain sheltering in nearby hills and forests in makeshift huts. With no clearance operations and little humanitarian aid, they are running out of food supplies.

“It has been three months since we fled Nawng Pyit. We have nothing left—not rice, oil, or salt. Some borrow from others who still have a little. Without help from donors, people are forced to risk their lives going back into the village to search for food,” another displaced villager said.

The latest casualties follow a similar incident on September 18, when Sai Kyaw Thein (40), another displaced villager, stepped on a landmine in the compound of his house in Nawng Pyit and lost his right leg.