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By AFP
Residents of a Myanmar commerce hub fled throughout the border to Thailand on Tuesday amid the sounds of explosions and after an ethnic minority armed group stated that they had seized a key army base close by, locals advised Agence France-Presse.
Fighters from the Karen Nationwide Union stated Saturday that that they had seized a army base round 10 kilometres west of Myawaddy city and that greater than 600 troopers, police and their households had surrendered.
Contacted by AFP on Tuesday, residents stated they may hear gunfire and explosions.
“Some individuals fled already, particularly these staying across the police station,” one resident advised AFP, requesting anonymity for safety causes.
“We’re listening to gunfire and explosions at this second. We heard planes flying over.”
They stated it didn’t seem KNU fighters had been contained in the city and {that a} bridge connecting Myawaddy to the Thai city of Mae Sot simply over the border was nonetheless open.
“I heard two loud explosions”, one other resident of Myawaddy advised AFP, additionally asking to stay nameless for safety causes.
“Many of the retailers are closed right this moment and locals are leaving for Thailand.”
Myanmar cell phone providers weren’t working, they stated, including that residents had been utilizing Thai SIM playing cards.
The junta has not responded to requests for touch upon the KNU declare of the surrenders on the base at Thingan Nyi Naung.
AFP has requested the KNU for remark.
A resident of Thingan Nyi Naung stated she had fled her house weeks in the past following earlier clashes and was now sheltering on the Thai border.
“Many IDPs at the moment are staying close to the river between Thailand and Myanmar,” she stated, referring to internally displaced individuals.
“We are able to see 1000’s of individuals from villages are coming to cross the border on daily basis,” added the resident, who requested anonymity.
Thailand’s international minister stated on Tuesday the nation was ready to just accept 100,000 individuals fleeing Myanmar, as studies of clashes emerged.
Thailand shares a 2,400-kilometre border with Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a civil warfare for the reason that junta overthrew the democratically elected authorities in 2021.
Myawaddy sits on the Asia Freeway that runs from the Thai border to Myanmar’s largest metropolis Yangon.
It passes by way of Kayin State, which has been riven by a long time of combating between the army and the KNU, which says it’s in search of autonomy for the Karen inhabitants.
For the reason that army’s 2021 coup, the KNU has given shelter to political opponents of the junta and educated newer Folks’s Defence Forces battling to overthrow the army’s rule.
Over US$1.1 billion price of commerce handed by way of Myawaddy from April 1 final yr to March 31 this yr, in accordance with the junta’s commerce ministry.
The Kayin State Border Guard Pressure, a neighborhood military-aligned militia that controls a lot of Myawaddy city, introduced this yr that it could now not take orders from the junta.
Analysts stated the transfer would additional weaken the army’s place in Kayin.
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