Mizzima
Junta artillery fire from the Infantry Battalion 275 camp burned down about 50 houses in Thingannyinaung Village in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township on 31 March.
At about 2:00 pm on 31 March, fighting broke out between junta troops and fighters from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) near Thingannyinaung football stadium.
Following the fighting the Myawaddy-based Infantry Battalion 275 fired artillery into the area from about 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm.
The artillery fire destroyed shops in the market, the football stadium and many houses.
A villager from Thingannyinaung said: “We heard intense artillery fire near the football stadium, followed by plumes of smoke rising from the east side of the village. It’s likely that around 50 houses were destroyed in the blaze.”
A woman said: “My home is gone. I had no time to salvage anything. There’s nothing left. A shell from Infantry Battalion 275 struck my house. The junta’s shelling caused the devastation. With the village being small, only a handful of houses remain standing.”
Fire trucks rushed from Myawaddy town to try to extinguish the fires, according to a source in Myawaddy.
Since 7 March there has been an escalation of fighting in Thingannyinaung Village.
