Thousands flee town in Myanmar amid clashes with junta troops

Thousands of villagers fled as a junta military column advanced into a town in Myanmar.

Footage shows several armed men wearing camouflage appearing to round up male residents during what appeared to be a skirmish in the town of Kyunsu.

Local media reported that the soldiers had reached Lelthit Village on July 19, prompting terrified people in neighbouring villages to flee.

A local woman said the villagers escaped and sought refuge in forested areas despite heavy rains.

She said: 'Whenever the junta troops arrived in the villages, they would arrest them and use them as guides or human shields.'

Resistance forces in the Tanintharyi Township reportedly clashed with the junta column, using artillery to bomb its path.

According to local reports, some 60,000 residents in Tanintharyi have been displaced due to the ongoing clashes.

Myanmar has fallen into civil war following the removal of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, with a military coup in 2021.

Soldiers responded with barbaric force on protesting civilians leading to widespread condemnation and financial sanctions. Rebel groups and civilian militias around the country have since been locked in a series of ongoing clashes with the ruling military.

Aung San Suu Kyi has since been jailed for 33 years on politically motivated charges and is likely to die behind bars unless the army is toppled - a tragic end the politician hailed by Barack Obama as an 'inspirational icon of democracy'.