Dozens of residents were injured and over 300 houses destroyed when Myanmar junta warships shelled a village in Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Township in retaliation for the capture of a nearby police station by Karen forces, according to the Mon State Federal Council (MSFC).
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allies seized the police station in Kawbein village, 96 kilometers from the junta’s Northeastern Command, on Monday. Naval vessels bombarded nearby Dhamma Tha village from the Gyaing River at around 4 pm on Wednesday. The villages lie on the border with Karen State.
The blaze from the shelling burned for four hours, injuring more than 30 residents and consuming 300 of the village’s 1,000 houses. Ethnic Mon make up the majority of the village’s residents.
Regime forces continued to shell the village on Thursday, according to the MSFC.
“Almost all the houses in the village are two or three-story brick buildings. We built those houses with savings from 10 years of working in Thailand,” said a resident.
The blaze took a heavy toll partly because fire engines from Mawlamyine Town and nearby villages were turned back on the way to Dhamma Tha, said residents.
“The wind was strong and the roads were blockaded so that fire engines could not get through. Villagers put out the fire by pumping water from the river. Only one fire engine was allowed to enter the village after 200 houses had already burnt down,” said a resident.
Since the fall of Kawbein police station, more than 260 junta soldiers have been deployed in two villages nearby. The regime has also sent reinforcements to at least three other villages in the area.
Junta troops and resistance forces reportedly clashed in Dhamma Tha village at around 1 pm on Thursday, trapping 15 residents. Details of casualties were unknown as of press time.
The regime also bombed both Dhamma Tha and Enkasin villages at around 4 am on Thursday, damaging five houses in Enkasin, according to residents.
Property damage from junta attacks has been reported in at least 10 villages since the fall of Kawbein police station. Many residents have been forced to flee their homes, according to locals helping displaced people.