Phone lines have been cut off in more than 30 villages in southern Kawkareik township of Karen State since October to date, locals said.

Frequent fighting between the Military Council and the local Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) joint forces in the southern outskirts of Kawkareik, has caused difficulties to refuel the machinery at the phone towers in the area hence phone lines have been cut off, locals said.

Phone lines were initially cut in the Kyate village area south of Kawkareik. Since October 29, almost all villages in southern Kawkareik have been cut off, said a resident of Lan Pha, a village in the region.

“Today we heard artillery fire. When the phone lines were good, we could get news of the battles and check the road conditions. Now we are just asking randomly in Kawkareik to get information of the routes”, a resident of southern Kawkareik region, who wasshopping in Kawkareik town told KIC.

“The phone lines around Kyaikdon were the earliest to go down. Since October 29, all the villages in the region have had their phone lines cut off. Phone lines are working normally only in the villages near the city. There are more than 30 villages that have experienced phone line outages”, he told KIC.

Since there are frequent battles in these areas, the residents have to make phone calls before traveling to check the news of the battles. Now that the phone lines are down, they can’t get information about the clashes and are facing security concerns for traveling, locals said.