Thousands flee into Thailand amid renewed Myanmar fighting
Unrest in Myanmar has intensified since the military seized power from the elected government in February 2021.
Thousands of people have fled across the border into Thailand amid fierce fighting between Myanmar’s armed rebel groups and the army, according to Thai officials.
Myanmar was thrown into turmoil when the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, sparking mass protests and an armed uprising.
Thai officials said fighting near the border was concentrated near the town of Myawaddy in the southern state of Karen, also known as Kayin, bordering Thailand’s Tak province.
“About 3,998 people have fled to Thailand’s temporary shelter,” spread across 10 areas, Tak provincial officials said in a statement, adding that the situation is closely monitored. According to the Thai newspaper Khaosod English and BBC Burmese, fighting flared up after an attack on a border guard post by armed fighters from the Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group.
“Many people have crossed the border since yesterday and some are also waiting on the Myanmar side to cross. People don’t have enough drinking water or toilets for now,” a charity worker, who declined to be named, told Reuters news agency.
Since the coup, some ethnic armed groups, such as the KNLA, which have been fighting the armed forces for decades, have joined forces with anti-coup groups to try to force the generals out of power. Myanmar’s military has used deadly force against its opponents, killing about 3,212 people and imprisoning more than 17,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
It has also turned to air power to stamp out opposition, with observers accusing the military of bombing civilians and launching ground attacks. Entire villages have been burned down. At least eight people, including children, were killed in a bombing raid on their village in northwestern Myanmar last week.
Myanmar’s military claims it is fighting “terrorists” and denies attacking civilians.
It blames anti-coup fighters for civilian deaths.