The Burma Army shot dead two motorbike drivers and injured two more people traveling on the road between Muse and Kutkai in northern Shan State on Sunday.
The soldiers from the government forces reportedly tried to stop the motorbike drivers at the Nam Khai bridge in Nampaka, but they failed to stop.
“The incident occurred at around 4:00 p.m. I heard that soldiers from IB-123 based in Nampaka shot at them,” a local told KNG.
KNG could not confirm the identities of the deceased at the time of reporting.
According to local sources, the four individuals had intended to travel to Muse from Kutkai but had turned around en route after soldiers from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) would not allow them to pass due to military tension up ahead.
A different story was told by state-run media, which reported that two soldiers belonging to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) were shot by the military at Nam Khai bridge and that the Tatmadaw seized a rocket-propelled grenade.
On August 15, joint forces belonging to the TNLA, MNDAA and the Arakan Army simultaneously attacked five locations, including the Defense Services Technological Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin and tollgates in Nawng Cho, northern Shan State.
Since then, clashes have been ongoing between the Northern Alliance—of which the three groups are members—and the Burma Army have been growing in intensity in northern Shan State, particularly along the Mandalay-Muse national highway in Nong Cho, Kyaukme, Lashio, Kutkai, and Nampaka.
Locals have said that different groups have been blocking sections of the highway since Saturday.