Some of those injured in the December 25 clashes in Lay Kay Kaw to the south of Myawady in Kayin State have been sent to Mae Sot Hospital in Thailand, according to local sources.

Due to the fall of an artillery shell on the morning of December 25, a local and some reporters covering the clashes were wounded by shrapnel, local people reported.

The Lay Kay Kaw fighting has forced around 60,000 Myanmar nationals from 10 nearby villages to flee to the Thai side, and more are being forced out.

Lay Kay Kaw, regarded as a town with a symbol of peace, was hit with airstrikes just after 4pm on December. And some homes were burnt to the ground.

“In the Lay Kay Kaw fighting today, the front part of my house was burnt down,” said a refugee at Falulay refugee camp.

In the same morning, about five artillery shells fired by the Myanmar side fell on some houses and plantations in Thailand. No one was hurt, but some homes were damaged and crops destroyed.

On December 25, Thai security forces had to move over 1,300 Myanmar displaced by fighting on December 23 and 24 from the temporary camp by the Moei (Thaungyin) riverside to Mekin refugee camp, according to Thai sources.