Displaced by armed conflict, Myanmar nationals flee to India

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) — Hundreds of Myanmar nationals have fled into neighboring India after clashes between military and ethnic armed forces taking place in the Southeast Asian country since Sunday evening, officials told Anadolu on Monday.

"More people from Myanmar" have entered India since last night, according to a senior official in northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.

"We are still in the process of confirming the exact number (of those who arrived)," said the official in the state's Champhai district, where the people arrived.

The official said the night-long clashes continued until morning and that those who entered India were mostly from the villages close to the border.

Another official in the state told Anadolu that at least 2,000 people have entered the Indian side.

Earlier, Indian media reports said two displaced Myanmar nationals had sustained injuries and have been sent for treatment.

This was not the first cross-border exodus from Myanmar into India. Mizoram already hosts over 30,000 refugees who fled into India side following the violence into their country.

Recent days have also seen heightened skirmishes in the northern state of Shan, near the Myanmar's border with China.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army armed groups have claimed control of numerous outposts and four towns, blocking critical trade routes to China.

The UN expressed alarm at the severe fighting in Shan, pointing to reports of artillery fire and air raids causing civilian harm, displacement of tens of thousands, and hundreds fleeing across the border.