By Kantarawaddy Times
About 50,000 additional civilians across Karenni State have been displaced by the regime’s offensives this year.
According to U Banyar, who is in charge of the Karenni State Consultative Council’s humanitarian assistance committee, there are currently 250k internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Karenni State, which is more than two-thirds of the state’s population.
“There are nearly 30,000 new IDPs in eastern Demoso Township and thousands of residents of Chikwe and Yeni Pouk villages in Bawlakhe Township, all of whom were displaced after 16 March,” he said. Clashes also displaced villagers of eastern Hpruso Township.
Three junta columns have attacked Karenni resistance groups in eastern Demoso Township and the regime has flown 20 airstrikes.
According to locals, at least a thousand people have fled Chikwe, Yeni Pouk and Mong Htam after clashes erupted in the villages in Bawlakhe Township.
The Karenni Military Information Committee reported that fighting in the townships and on the border of Karenni State has escalated since the beginning of the year.
Khun Bedu, chairperson of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), which is fighting the regime, said, “We don’t want to see our people suffer from malnutrition or starve to death.” He explained that they’re protecting them and hopes that more donors will provide cross-border assistance, adding that the elderly, women and children are particularly vulnerable.
Several local volunteer teams are helping IDPs in the resistance-controlled areas of Karenni State, where most of those in need have fled. The problem is that the World Food Programme and other UN agencies only provide food to the civilian population through the military regime in Loikaw and the other major towns.
