Kantarawaddy Times
On October 13, the military junta and the Pa-O National Organization’s (PNO) joint forces launched an offensive on Bawran village, located in the Khaungei village tract on the western side of Pekhon Township near the Shan-Karenni border. As a result, the entire village’s residents were forced to flee since the joint forces were burning down houses.
“At around noon, villagers were harvesting rice in their fields. Then, the military and PNO joint forces appeared on a nearby hill between Namnate and Bawran villages. They had shoulder-carried weapons and also heavy weapons from the other side of the mountain. They were firing continuously,” said a Bawran villager who fled the attack.
According to locals, even though no clashes occurred in this area, the troops entered the village and burned down more than 40 houses. The fires spread quickly, so it causes extensive destruction to homes.
Villagers said they had to flee suddenly and are now in urgent need of food and basic supplies. They were unable to harvest their rice and crops, and they left their farmlands behind as they sought safety.
“What we urgently need right now is food. It’s very difficult to find. There’s no car road, so we had to walk here. Some people only brought the clothes they were wearing. We couldn’t carry food with us from the village,” another villager said.
Bawran village consists of upper and lower sections, with over 360 households and a population of around 1,600 people.
Earlier, in the second week of October, the joint forces of the military junta and PNO also entered Myoutesalone village in Pekhon Township, burning civilian homes, shelling the area with heavy weapons, and conducting drone attacks, according to a statement released by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) on October 13.
