IMNA : Six Three Pagoda Pass (TPP) residents, including one monk, have been wounded by fighting between Burmese troops at the TPP government army base and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Battalion 907.
According to a TPP resident, heavy missile fire started today at 9:30 a.m. on the Burmese side, and is still on-going. Three TPP residents on the Thai side of the border were hit by rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire which dropped outside of a restaurant while three Thai TPP residents were walking by. Another RPG dropped in Taung Wine quarter, TPP, in which three Burmese residents were injured.
Many villagers from areas around TPP began gathering their belongings starting this morning and have walked over to the Thai side through the many unofficial crossings. The border at TPP is quite porous and it is easy to enter the Thai side without passing the official border crossing.
According to a local New Mon State Party (NMSP) soldier, DKBA troops combined with a faction of the Karen National Union’s (KNU) military the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) at 9:00 am.
Currently, monks from Taing Tayar monastery have collected residents to act as guards for the different wards of TPP. Houses of residents who have fled to the Thai side have been entered, and after shooting, soldiers (though it is unknown as to which side these soldiers come from) have taken property and belongings of the fleeing residents.
