BANGKOK (AP) — About 1,300 people have fled from eastern Myanmar to Thailand, officials said Saturday, as new fighting broke out in a border town recently captured by ethnic guerrillas.
Fighters from the Karen ethnic minority last week captured the last Myanmar army outposts in and around Myawaddy, which is connected to Thailand by two bridges over the Moei River.
The latest clashes came in the morning when Karen guerrillas launched an attack on Myanmar troops sheltering at the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, a key crossing for trade with Thailand, said police chief Pittayakorn Phetcharat in Thailand’s Mae Sot district . He estimated that about 1,300 people fled to Thailand.
Thai officials said people had been crossing the border since Friday after clashes in several parts of Myawaddy.
The fall of Myawaddy is a major setback for the military that seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. Myanmar’s once-powerful armed forces have suffered a series of unprecedented defeats since October last year, losing large swathes of territory including border posts. to both ethnic fighters, who have been fighting for more autonomy for decades, and pro-democratic guerrilla units that took up arms after the military takeover.
The clashes, which involved drone strikes by Karen forces and airstrikes by Myanmar’s military, had subsided around noon on Saturday compared to the morning, but Mae Sot police chief Pittayakorn Phetcharat said he could still hear sporadic gunfire. He said Thai authorities would move people fleeing to a safer area.
Footage from the Thai border showed Thai soldiers standing guard at the bridge, with sounds of explosions and gunfire in the background. People with children waded across the river with their belongings and were welcomed on the bank by Thai officials. Several people are taking shelter in buildings along the riverbank on the Myanmar side.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wrote on the social media platform X on Saturday that he was closely monitoring the situation at the border.
“I do not want such clashes to have any impact on Thailand’s territorial integrity and we are ready to protect our borders and the security of our people. At the same time, we are also ready to provide humanitarian assistance if necessary,” he wrote.
In March, Thailand delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to Myanmar for about 20,000 displaced people.
Nikorndej Balangura, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Friday that Thailand was currently expanding its aid initiative.
