Government forces and the Kachin Independence Army have blamed each other for renewed fighting in southern Kachin State that relief workers say has forced about 1,000 people to flee their homes.
Sources at relief camps near Mansi, in the state’s Bhamo district, say the occupants of 10 villages fled after the fighting erupted on October 30.
The commanding officer of government troops at one of the villages, Maden Pa, denied that the Tatmadaw had started the fighting.
“We didn’t shoot first,” he told Mizzima, “we returned fire after they shot at us.”
He also denied that government troops had shot at any of the villages, which apart from Maden Pa, are Makhau Yan, Nam Phu, Kone Khar Par, Makar Rai, Hman Lu, Kya Swan, Lai Kar Zuap Ja, Kha Pra Yan and Dan Awng Ja.
The general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Church in Mai Khaung village, Reverend Sai Naw, said Kachin Independence Army troops had recently withdrawn from the villages.
The pullout followed an agreement reached at talks in Laiza in early October between government negotiators and the Kachin Independence Organisation, of which the KIA is the armed wing.
The latest fighting came as the KIO and the representatives of other armed ethnic groups were meeting in Laiza to discuss a national ceasefire agreement that the government wants to be signed later this month.
Relief workers said the 10 villages affected by the latest fighting were about six miles from Mansi.
The Rev. Sai Naw said government troops had entered the villages on the pretext of a routine area visit but had remained in the area.
“Peace negotiations are taking place at high level but exchanges of fire are still taking place at the foot soldiers’ level and I wonder why this is happening,” he said.
KBC Pastor Naw Lun said the 10 villages had been deserted and concerns were held for about 500 residents who had gone missing while en route to relief camps.
“It is difficult to try and locate them because of the government troops stationed in the area,” Pastor Naw Lun said.
Of the villagers who were accounted for, about 340 had taken refuge at Bhamo relief camp and another 231 were being sheltered at Mansi’s Htwe San church.
A spokesman for the church said another 428 war refugees had sought refuge in the church at Aungtha.
Pastor Mi Tone Awng from the Kachin Baptist Church in Mai Khaung village, which is sheltering hundreds of people, expressed concern about food shortages.
“Food supplies are not sufficient since the displaced villagers arrived,” he said.
