NANG SENG NOM — In Kyaukme Township, Tatmadaw troops fired indiscriminately last Friday (October 10), despite no clashes with the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) reported in the township in northern Shan State on that day.

RCSS/SSA Lt-Col Oum Khur told SHAN tensions remain high since fighting started on October 2 after the Burma Army moved troops into the area controlled by the ethnic armed organization.

“There were no clashes today. It’s silent, yet the Burma Army fired its weapons,” he said. Tatmadaw is sending reinforcements to Nam Hu village and Pon Wow village-tract.

Nang Nang, from Pong Woe village, told SHAN that Tatmadaw troops climbed a mountain top to fire their weapons when no clashes were occurring. With Burma Army columns patrolling Pong Woe village-tract, she says it’s not safe for residents of Pon Wow village to return home.

As reinforcements are being sent, RCSS/SSA expects fresh clashes to be imminent.

More than 2,600 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were displaced by the clashes in October.

There are 700 sheltering at Pong Woe monastery; over 700 in Tawng Htig village; in Ner Saung village there are 102; in Nawng Kwang village there are 100; there are 400 in Nam Hang Khueng village; more than 400 in Kawng Hin village and almost 200 in Kawng Lang village.

The 2020 general election is less than a month away. But electoral candidates have been unable to campaign in the region because of the fighting. During the 2015 race, polling was blocked in Monghsu, Kehsi and Mong Nawng townships in southern Shan State after the Burma Army attacked the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA).