(Reuters) – Myanmar army fighter jets launched airstrikes on a village near the Thai border on Saturday in territory controlled by an armed ethnic group, the group said, as fears of civil war grew after last month’s military coup.
The Karen National Union (KNU), the armed ethnic group that controls the southeastern region, said fighter jets attacked Pu No Day in Papun district, an area of its 5th Brigade forces. around eight o’clock in the afternoon, forcing the villagers to flee.
“They bombed the area … Villagers in this area said two dead and two injured,” said a spokesman for civil society group Karen Network Support Support, who added that communication was difficult in the region remote and that there could be more casualties.
A Board spokesman did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
The reported airstrike is the largest attack in the region in years. The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015, but tensions escalated after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government on 1 February.
Earlier Saturday, the KNU said Brigade 5 forces attacked an army base and killed ten soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, as the board celebrated its annual Armed Forces Day with a parade in the capital, Naypyitaw.
The KNU says it has welcomed hundreds of people who have fled central Myanmar amid violence in recent weeks. Board troops killed dozens of people on Saturday, including children, in one of the bloodiest days of protests since the coup, news and witnesses reported.
Poppy McPherson Reports; Additional reports from Panu Wongcha-um; Edited by Alex Richardson and Frances Kerry