Villagers pick through rubble of war-torn homes
A towering golden Buddha watches over families sifting through the wreckage of their homes in a northern Myanmar village as they grieve for all they have lost in heavy artillery and air strikes.

The Buddha’s right palm is raised in a gesture meant to dispel fear and offer protection.

But swathes of Nam Hpat Kar in northern Shan state were reduced to rubble in conflict between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which says it captured the village in late January after more than a month of fighting.

With military aircraft closing in, Nann May and her family fled the house they had recently built.

“From where I was hiding I heard the sounds of fighter jets flying overhead and I thought our village... will be destroyed completely,” Nann May, who earns a living selling daily goods, said.

After KIA fighters seized the village and the fighting ended, Nann May returned to Nam Hpat Kar – which sits on Myanmar’s main highway to China– to find her home and many others damaged or destroyed.

“Residents can’t do any work. There are no jobs and no homes here for us. We are grieving for our losses.”

The loss of Nam Hpat Kar is one of many suffered by Myanmar’s ruling junta in recent months.

An offensive launched in October by an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups has seized chunks of territory along the China border, as well as control of lucrative trade crossings.

The successes have also inspired so-called “People’s Defence Forces” – dedicated to reversing the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government – to launch attacks of their own across the country.

Analysts say the onslaught has put the embattled junta in its most vulnerable position since seizing power.

Last week, it announced it would begin conscripting young men and women into its ranks due to the “current situation”.

For villagers returning home to houses obliterated by air and artillery strikes, talk of victory rings hollow.

For many who survived the fight, the next struggle will be surviving day to day. — AFP
Myanmar
A towering golden Buddha watches over families sifting through the wreckage of their homes in a northern Myanmar village as they grieve for all they have lost in heavy artillery and air strikes.