Violence has escalated since October according to the UN, who, in a report published in September, said the Myanmar military was increasingly relying on “air and artillery strikes on villages and other populated areas” to fight perceived opponents.

It said concerns around abuses by anti-military groups who have been forming allegiances to fight the junta were “not comparable to the military’s violence in scale, proportion, or scope”.

According to the Karen National Union, the junta has carried out more than 300 airstrikes on civilians in the state over the past two years, leaving thousands homeless.

Banya Khun Aung, deputy secretary of the Karenni State Interim Executive Council, an anti-junta group, says the lack of food has reached crisis levels.

More than half of Karenni’s population of 400,000 have been displaced since 2021, according to the state’s interim executive council and are living in about 200 camps deep in the forest along the Salween River.

The military has cut off transportation routes, confiscated supplies and arrested workers attempting to distribute aid, meaning goods for people in the border areas have to come via Thailand, which is costly.

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