Myanmar military shells town after clash with ‘self-defence force’
Government forces in Myanmar have shelled a town in the west of the country, with a fire destroying dozens of houses and damaging the office of charity Save the Children.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military carried out a coup in February.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in a campaign against dissent, a local monitoring group said.
So-called self-defence forces have formed across Myanmar to take on the junta, leading to an escalation in attacks and reprisals.
Regime forces shelled the town of Thantlang in Chin state on Friday after a confrontation with a self-defence force there, Khit Thit Media and the Chindwin news outlet reported.
A man who fled the town after previous clashes told AFP the shelling began after members of the self-defence force captured a soldier.
“Soon after it happened, heavy artilleries were fired,” he said.
Between 80 and 100 houses had been destroyed, he said.
“We don’t know if houses were burnt after being hit by artilleries or if they set fire to the houses.”
A woman in the town told AFP her house was among the properties destroyed.
“We don’t even know what to say,” she said.
Images published by local media showed pillars of smoke rising from the remote town built amid green hills.
“At least 100 buildings are thought to have been destroyed so far by the fire, which reportedly broke out at around 11am following the use of heavy weapons,” Save the Children said.
“Fire continues to tear through the town and there is no fire service available to control the blaze.”
It said one of its offices had been damaged.
About 7,500 people once lived in Thantlang, but most left during clashes last month, with many fleeing across the border to India.
Save the Children said the town was “largely deserted” when the shelling occurred and its staff had left owing to previous violence.
Last week, the UN said it feared Myanmar faced a human rights catastrophe amid reports of thousands of troops massing in the north and west of the country.
In May, government forces used artillery to flush out rebels from the town of Mindat in southern Chin state.
Authorities later cut off the town’s water supply, a spokesman for an insurgent group said.