The junta forces entered Than Hpoe in southern Kalay Township on the pretext of searching houses, but instead burnt the rice supplies of villagers who had already fled into the jungle before the soldiers arrived.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of the youth, who immediately returned to put out the flames, the fire did not spread to the people’s houses.
“The soldiers left after setting fire to our paddy stocks, but before that they fired into our village,” said a Than Hpoe resident. The man explained that they cannot go home because the soldiers are camped in Yan Gyi Aung, just over a mile away. ”The soldiers can come back at any time,” he says.
About nine miles away, near Nat Chaung, the BA has launched a major offensive against the Chinland Defence Forces and the People’s Defence Forces, with whom it has been fighting everyday since last week.
According to reports from resistance groups, they killed 33 BA soldiers in an engagement near the village on 23 December, after which the regime retaliated with air strikes that killed at least 9 civilians.
It is not possible for Khonumthung News to independently confirm all of these deaths.
On Sunday, the resistance groups attacked a column of BA near Nat Chaung. In return, the regime fired numerous artillery shells into the area.