An army helicopter buzzes overhead and ambulances travel up wet empty roads in Myanmar’s northeast, ferrying aid to thousands of residents displaced by fresh clashes between rebels and the military.
Burnt-out vehicles and bullet casings lie along the road to Shan State’s Kutkai — a town ringed by mountains, poppy fields and a patchwork of ethnic groups fighting for more autonomy and control over land and resources.
“We are still afraid to go back home,” 63-year-old former teacher Ba Yi said while sheltering in a monastery. “Every time I hear explosions, I want to go away.”
Photo: AFP
The area near the Chinese border has been riven by armed conflict for decades, and Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi pledged to secure peace when she took office in 2016.
It is also home to what experts believe to be the world’s largest methamphetamine-making region, fueling a complex web of conflict.
Fighting in the region escalated after rebel attacks on an army academy and police outposts killed at least 15 this month, operations the military said were in retaliation for a drug crackdown.
Photo: AFP
Local civil society organizations have said that more than 2,000 people have been displaced.
“Even if I wanted to go back to my home, I can’t go... The situation is not peaceful in my village,” 18-year-old student Lyaw Aye Pwint said.
The US embassy issued a travel warning this month for more than a dozen towns in Shan State due to “civil unrest and armed conflict.”
Dozens of non-governmental organization workers were evacuated last week, days after an ambulance driver was killed in an attack blamed on rebels.
However, rescue workers are still braving the danger to bring aid to the displaced.
“The main missions are to send provisions to the villagers from restricted areas, and try to rescue people from conflict areas and send them to shelters,” said Tin Win, part of a volunteer aid convoy.
The Burmese army has long battled different insurgent groups fighting for more autonomy in a country dominated by the Bamar ethnic majority.
Amid the recent fighting, the army is still making large drug seizures.
On Sunday, the military said that it found 762kg of crystal meth in backpacks in eastern Shan State, a haul worth an estimated US$12.6 million.
On Thursday last week, it confiscated dozens of bags of meth tablets worth US$7 million.
“We are still clearing off the area in northern Shan State. We still have fighting in that area,” Burmese army spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said.
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