A clash between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military in the Indawgyi region of Kachin state yesterday has forced an unspecified number of residents from Aytulay village to flee their homes, RFA reported quoting local sources.
The fighting between KIA and government soldiers began on April 10 in the area where the Myanmar Army’s Infantry Unit 390 and Operations Control Headquarters No. 3 are located, they said.
Six residents who are “Shan Ni” or “Red Shan”  farmers are missing, said a villager from Aytulay who requested anonymity.
Members of the ethnic group, who speak a dialect of the Shan language and are nearly all Buddhist, say they have long suffered violence and discrimination by both the KIA and the Myanmar military through the confiscation of food and other supplies, the extortion of heavy taxes, and the forcing of residents to serve as porters.