By Kantarawaddy Times
Thousands of civilians who had sought refuge in a village in Mese Township on the border were forced to flee to Thailand and other areas after a regime fighter jet bombed a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Kyauk Su in Karenni State. An 11-year-old boy was killed during the airstrikes that destroyed at least six houses, including a church.
According to the Karenni Human Rights Group, a jet fighter also killed a man and wounded two women during an airstrike on Daw Hnoe Ku IDP camp in Shadow Township.
U Hpoe Zaw, who is helping the IDPs in Mese Township, said there were more than 2,000 from Kyauk Su who were affected. Some had crossed into Thailand, he said, while others were hiding in the mountainous jungles of Karenni State, where it is difficult for the regime to fly air strikes against them.
They are traumatised by the jet fighters, the volunteer explained, which are bombing the area every day as part of its Four-cuts Policy. “I think their food rations will be exhausted in the next three days,” he said. They also need medicines, tarpaulins to protect themselves from the rain and mosquito nets, but inflation has driven up the prices of these goods making them more difficult to attain.
Another major hurdle is delivering relief goods to the IDPs during the rainy season on bad roads. He said a litre of petroleum costs about $5 in the region and they have yet to receive help from private donors to buy fuel or food.
Jet fighters have been strafing villages in Mese and Hpasawng townships since mid-June after two units of the Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF) defected from the regime, leading to fighting along the border.
