YANGON, April 10 — Myanmar’s military and an ethnic minority armed group clashed for a second day around a trade hub on the Thai border today, with residents hiding or fleeing and Thailand beefing up security on the border.
More than US$1.1 billion (RM5.2 billion) worth of trade passed through Myanmar’s border town Myawaddy in the 12 months to April, according to the junta’s commerce ministry — a vital source of revenue for the cash-strapped military.
Fighters from the Karen National Union (KNU) said Saturday that they had seized a military base around 10 kilometres west of the town and that more than 600 soldiers, police and their families had surrendered.
Residents told AFP fighting started around Myawaddy on Tuesday, sending residents fleeing across the border, but that KNU fighters did not appear to have entered the town.
“There was fighting the whole of last night and in the morning as well,” a resident of Myawaddy told AFP on Wednesday, asking for anonymity for security reasons.
“We are hiding downstairs. We can hear artillery sounds and explosions from our place. Planes are flying over.
“My mother and other siblings fled to Mae Sot [over the border in Thailand] this morning. I’m now guarding our house with my uncle.”
A resident of Mae Sot, opposite Myawaddy, told AFP they saw eight Thai military vehicles heading towards the border on Tuesday night.
“Many people have entered Mae Sot from the other side [Myanmar],” they said.
“I saw many online posts looking for a place to stay.”
Local media reported around 1,000 people were waiting to cross the border into Thailand on Wednesday morning.
Local media images in Thailand showed armoured cars and troops on patrol in Mae Sot.
Thailand’s foreign minister said on Tuesday the country was prepared to accept 100,000 people fleeing Myanmar, as reports of clashes around Myawaddy emerged.
The same day Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and high-level Thai officials met to discuss the border issue.
Thailand shares a 2,400-kilometre border with Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a civil war since the junta overthrew the democratically elected government in 2021.
A truck driver on the road to Myawaddy in Myanmar said he had heard planes flying and the sound of artillery fire on Wednesday.
He said other drivers had told him that authorities in Myawaddy had blocked traffic from entering the town from the Myanmar side.
The junta has not responded to requests for comment on the KNU claim of the surrenders at the military base at Thingannyinaung.
AFP has asked the KNU for comment. — AFP
