ICC Note: Renewed fighting in conflict-torn Kachin and Shan states have displaced more than 1000 Christian-majority Kachin and Shan people. Myanmar’s military have launched assaults on several positions across Kachin State, including rounds of artillery directed near the Kachin army’s headquarters at Laiza on the Sino-Burmese border since early December. Villagers were forced out from their homes and had to seek refuge in churches.
01/03/2018 Myanmar (UCA News) – More than 1,000 people have fled their homes and taken refuge in temporary shelters following renewed fighting in conflict-torn Kachin and Shan states.
At least 900 people from northern Shan State and more than 100 in Kachin State have been displaced according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Jan.2.
Myanmar’s military went on the offensive in both states in early December prompting several clashes with ethnic armed groups such as the Kachin Independence Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Shan State Army.
Clashes continue to plague many ethnic-minority states in Myanmar, particularly in the country’s northern, mainly Christian, Kachin State. This conflict has spread into the northern part of neighboring Shan State.
Since hostilities resumed in 2011, following the break down of a 17-year ceasefire, more than 120,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and remain in internally displaced people camps.
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