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Myanmar Junta Condemned for Christmas Eve Airstrikes
As the conflict in Myanmar escalates, the Junta launched airstrikes on Christmas eve against rebel-held territory near the Thai border, a rebel group reported on Friday.
At least two airstrikes were launched and some artillery rounds were fired on an area under KNU control near the Thai-Myanmar border near northern Thailand’s Tak province.
A Reuters reporter in Mae Sot in Tak province, a border town 15 km from where the airstrikes took place said the explosions sent local villagers scrambling for shelter.
It has been a turbulent year for Myanmar since the Military Junta ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1. The military coup has led to protests nationwide and sporadic clashes between anti-junta militias and the military Junta in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar.
Over 4,200 people have crossed into Thailand since fighting between the Myanmar military and the KNU erupted last week, according to Thailand’s foreign ministry. According to civil society groups, as many as 10,000 people have been displaced by airstrikes from Myanmar’s military junta.
Thousands of Myanmar Refugees Flee into Northern Thailand
Saw Taw Nee, a KNU spokesman, told Reuters the airstrikes had forced more civilians to leave the area and urged the international community to set up a no-fly zone.
Tanee Sangrat, a spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign ministry, said at a press conference on Friday (Christmas Eve) that the Government of Thailand is very concerned about the latest violence along its northern borders. The spokesperson also said the violence is impacting Thai citizens living along the border.
Envoys from the European Union, Britain, and the United States have called for an end to “indiscriminate airstrikes” by the military Junta in Karen state and elsewhere in Myanmar on Friday in a joint statement.
In their statement, they said, “The recent airstrikes on civilians in the Karen State, including the shelling of villages, are violating International Humanitarian Law and must stop immediately.”
Source: Reuters
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