Myanmar's military shelled a tense town, damaging scores of homes in the process

Thantlang residents have been forced to escape due to a military crackdown on dissent.

Myanmar army shelled a restive western town, demolishing dozens of homes as part of a broader campaign on places defying the military coup.

According to Khit Thit media and The Chindwin news outlet, Thantlang, in western Chin State, was shelled after a clash with a local self-defense unit.

According to a local monitoring group, the Southeast Asian country has been in upheaval since a coup in February, with more than 1,200 people slain in a crackdown on opposition.
Self-defense forces have risen to confront the military, intensifying attacks and retaliating with bloodshed.

The bombardment began after members of the local forces kidnapped a soldier, according to a Thantlang resident who had fled the town following earlier fighting.

"Heavy artillery was fired soon after it happened," he added, adding that he had heard between 80 and 100 residences had been damaged.

"We don't know if houses were set on fire after being hit by artillery or if the houses were put on fire by the artillery."

Images in the local press showed pillars of smoke pouring into the sky from the town, which is nestled among verdant hills.

"At least 100 buildings are understood to have been damaged so far by the fire... which apparently broke out at around 11:00 am following the use of heavy weaponry," Save the Children said in a statement.

The organisation said that its office was destroyed during severe confrontations, and that all of its ten employees were forced to evacuate.
After violence erupted in Thantlang last month, the agency was compelled to halt life-saving health programmes.

Save the Children stated, "The devastation wrought by this atrocity is completely senseless."
"The residents of this area have already had to abandon their houses in recent weeks due to violent conflicts.
Many people will have lost everything they had."

Before inhabitants were forced to escape last month due to a rise in the military's attack in Chin State, Thantlang was home to roughly 10,000 people.

The United Nations warned earlier this month that the military coup in Myanmar could lead to a worsening of the country's human rights situation.