More than 10 civilians have been wounded by Myanmar junta airstrikes in an area controlled by an ethnically Karen armed group near the Thai border in Karen State on Friday at noon.

Witnesses said two helicopters attacked a camp run by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Association, a splinter group of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The camp is near Lay Kay Kaw new town, where fighting between regime troops and the KNLA has raged for a month. Civilians who have fled the fighting are sheltering in the camp.

Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the spokesman for the Karen National Union, the political wing of the KNLA, confirmed today’s airstrike.

Two injured civilians before being transferred to a hospital in Mae Sot on Friday afternoon. / The Irrawaddy

“They have been attacking the camp for several days. Today’s strike was quite serious,” he said, adding that the regime is trying to seize the area around Lay Kay Kaw.

On Friday afternoon, eight wounded civilians were taken to a hospital in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. They were wounded in their chests, heads, knees and ankles.

They said other injured civilians were left behind in Myanmar.

On Thursday, stray regime bullets and shells fell in Thai territory, causing villagers to shelter in bunkers.

Thai soldiers responded by firing smoke grenades into Myanmar’s territory as a warning, according to the Bangkok Post.

Source:
courtesy of THE IRRAWADDY

by THE IRRAWADDY

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