(UCAN): More than two dozen civilians have been reportedly killed since May 27 amid heavy fighting between junta forces and rebel groups in Myanmar, according to local rights and humanitarian groups.
At least 30 civilians were killed or reported missing from May 27 to June 12, in Mobye, Shan state, between the capital, Naypyitaw, and an area controlled by a rebel group, according to the Karenni Human Rights group.
“At least two civilians were injured at Loi Wa village, in Loikaw township, in shelling by the military from Loikaw to Mobye and nearby areas on June 14,” the group said on its Twitter account on June 15.
Heavy fighting was taking place in Shan state after the military stepped up an offensive on May 27, the group said.
“This morning [June 16] we heard artillery shelling from Loikaw town and it appears fighting has been ongoing around Mobye,” a source, who requested anonymity, said.
Mobye is home to 30,000 people, half of whom are Christians, mostly Catholics. There are also Buddhists from various ethnic groups like Karenni, Kayan and Kayaw.
We have called on the international community, including Myanmar’s neighbours and concerned organisations, to take action for an end to military atrocities against its own people and to hold them accountable
A Church source said that locals have fled Mobye and have taken shelter in relatives’ homes or monasteries in Taunggyi and Pekhon townships.
Mobye is within the Diocese of Pekhon which encompasses southern Shan state and is one of the areas hardest hit by ongoing fighting along with The Diocese of Loikaw in neighbouring Kayah state, where several parishes were abandoned after thousands fled.
Dr. Sasa, the minister of international cooperation in Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, has strongly condemned the loss of life in Shan state and called on the international community to take action against the perpetrators.
“We have called on the international community, including Myanmar’s neighbours and concerned organisations, to take action for an end to military atrocities against its own people and to hold them accountable,” Sasa, a Christian, said in a June 14 statement.
The military, which toppled the civilian government in February 2021, has not acknowledged the death of civilians and the ongoing fighting in Shan state, which borders China to the north, and Laos to the east.
The Free Burma Rangers, a Christian humanitarian group that provides medical aid to remote border areas of the country, said some 26 villagers were killed between June 6 and June 8 and another 20 were wounded due to the intense fighting in Mobye.
Villagers found the bodies of six civilians shot by the army and knew that there were five more. But they were unable to retrieve the bodies due to the presence of the army, the group said in a report on June 13.
Myanmar’s military has stepped up attacks on rebel forces in Christian majority areas of Kayah, Chin and Karen states while its troops also burned several villages in the Bamar-heartland of Sagaing and Magwe regions where it faces stiff resistance.
More than 6,300 civilians were killed in the first 20 months after the military coup in 1 February 2021, according to a report by the Oslo- based Peace Research Institute.
