A battalion commander and deputy commander were among the soldiers who surrendered to resistance forces in Karenni (Kayah) Township’s Mese Township last week, according the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).
The two junta officers, who were from Light Infantry Battalion 430, based in the state’s Bawlakhe Township, were captured last Friday during a raid on an outpost on the Thai-Myanmar border, said Naing Htoo Aung, the secretary of the NUG’s Ministry of Defence.
The battalion commander, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was one of around 100 junta troops who surrendered or fled following a series of attacks that began in the township on June 13, he claimed.
Myanmar Now could not independently confirm the number of soldiers who were captured or verify reports that some had defected to the resistance.
An information officer of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), one of the groups involved in seizing control of five junta outposts and police station over the past two weeks, said he could only confirm that a total of 23 junta troops surrendered on Friday.
According to a member of the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), which also took part in the raids, a list of prisoners is still being compiled.
“It’s difficult to say how many there are, as there is still some fighting going on,” he said, adding that a number of junta soldiers fled across the border into Thailand.
Troops from the KNDF, KNPLF, Karenni Army, Karen National Liberation Army, and NUG-led People’s Defence Force joined forces to carry out the recent operations in Mese Township.
The KNPLF, a former ceasefire group that had formed into a Border Guard Force under the command of Myanmar’s military, said that its bases in the township have been repeatedly targeted by airstrikes since it joined the anti-junta alliance.
“They conducted airstrikes both day and night,” said a spokesperson for the group, adding that the resistance forces had also managed to seize heavy weapons, including 120mm artillery guns, from the junta outposts.
Serious fighting was also reported last week in Hpasawng Township, which is located north of Mese Township on the other side of the Salween (Thanlyin) River.
Clashes broke out near the village of Kyauk Pein Nyo in Hpawsawng on June 20 and again the next day near a bridge on the Salween, as Karenni forces intercepted junta reinforcements heading for Mese Township.
According to local aid workers, more than 11,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Mese Township.
Around half are sheltering in makeshift camps, while more than 3,200 have sought refuge in Thailand and another 2,300 are hiding in the jungle, they said.
Naing Htoo Aung said the NUG would do its best to minimise the impact of the conflict on civilians.
“We will make systematic efforts to take effective control of the area and deploy troops in ways that will least affect the public,” he said.
He added that according to figures compiled by the NUG, some 15,000 junta soldiers and police officers have joined the anti-regime resistance since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021.
