Seventy percent of the population of Laukkai has fled the town to escape bloody clashes between the Tatmadaw and the MNDAA. The remaining 30 percent are now raising concerns over looting, burglary and gunfire in the town.
“Our house was broken into. Other locked homes were also broken into, and things were stolen. One person, while outside, was stabbed and robbed. An acquaintance told me that people, especially girls and women, are warned not go outside alone,” a local woman told Eleven.
The local administration office has imposed a 9pm-to-6am curfew on those remaining in the town.
According to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, several Tatmadaw officers have been killed during the 48 clashes with the MNDAA over the last few weeks.
The MNDAA launched a surprise attack earlier this month on police outposts in Yanlonkyaing, the traffic police office in Laukkai, and the home of U Wai Hsan — a member of the governing body of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone.
A Tatmadaw press release said the MNDAA torched three hotels and 20 cars in Laukkai and took several residents as hostages.
Tens of thousands of residents have fled the area to China and to other parts of Shan State, leaving the town sparsely populated.
The Tatmadaw has been conducting clearance operations in the town since March 6. Since that time, dozens of civilians, Tatmadaw soldiers and MNDAA soldiers have been killed.
The army-run Myawaddy newspaper reported on Sunday that Tatmadaw troops seized two strategic hills in the Kokang area and killed at least six MNDAA soldiers last week.
