Fighting ongoing between Karen armed groups in Myanmar’s south

The armed wing of the long-established, powerful ethnic national organisation Karen National Union (KNU) has been battling a breakaway group near the city of Dawei in Myanmar’s southernmost region since December, according to fighters active in the area. Myanmar Now found that at least five deadly clashes had occurred in December between the two groups near the road connecting Dawei—the administrative seat of Tanintharyi Region—with the Thailand-Myanmar border trade hub of Htee Khee, Dawei Township some 60 miles to the east. Clashes between Brigade 4 of the KNU’s main armed wing—the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—and the Kawthoolei Army (KTLA) were first reported in late 2023. As fighting intensified in December 2024, both forces began blocking access on the Dawei-Htee Khee road, which has strategic importance as a border trade route. The KNLA is the armed wing of the Karen National Union, Myanmar’s oldest continuously existing ethnic armed organisation. KNLA forces have now raided five KTLA base camps in the eastern woodland area of Dawei Township, according to the KNU/KNLA’s secretary for Tanintharyi Region’s Myeik and Dawei districts Padoh Saw Eh Nar. “They attacked us in ambushes. We had to counterattack for security reasons. Otherwise, they would continue to take advantage and ambush us while we’re trying to fight the military council, killing some of our officers,” he told Myanmar Now. Brig-Gen Saw Nerdah Mya established the KTLA in July 2022 after his expulsion from the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), an armed subgroup under the command of the KNU. According to estimates from the research group Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP-Myanmar), the KTLA is made up of around 1,500 fighters. Saw Nerdah Mya, who still heads the group, is a son of the former KNU chair and Karen revolutionary Gen. Saw Bo Mya. The KNU dismissed him from his position as chief of the KNDO following accusations that he had executed 25 prisoners of war as suspected junta intelligence agents, which emerged after a battle in Myawaddy Township in May 2021. Since its founding in 2022, the KTLA has operated mainly in the KNU’s Brigade 6 territory in the Myawaddy-Wawlay area of Karen State, as well as in the Brigade 4 territory overlapping with Tanintharyi Region’s Myeik-Dawei District. While the KTLA and KNLA initially fought together to capture junta bases in Brigade 6 territory, clashes broke out in late 2023 between KNU Brigade 4 and the KTLA's Sarkasaw Brigade led by Col. Eh Khwee in Tanintharyi Region. The conflict escalated when the KTLA's Sarkasaw Brigade captured and a Brigade 4 officer, Saw Hpar Joe, near the Dawei-Htee Khee road on December 8, 2024, according to Padoh Saw Eh Nar. “We raided about five KTLA locations in the eastern area,” he said, referring to the east of Tanintharyi Region. “They’re no longer in those five locations. They have moved elsewhere.” Fighting has continued to erupt on the Dawei-Htee Khee road, including an ambush by the KTLA that killed KNLA Battalion 10 (Company 1) Deputy Company Commander Saw Lar Doe on January 3. After the KNLA led a coalition of allies in attacking junta bases near the town of Myitta some 25 miles outside of Dawei in February 2024, the Dawei-Htee Khee road fell under the control of the KNLA, KTLA, People's Defence Forces (PDF), and other, local armed groups. Confrontations between the KNLA and KTLA began after these joint operations ended. According to an officer of the PDF—the armed wing of the publicly mandated National Unity Government—the Karen groups’ blockade of the Dawei-Htee Khee road has hindered resistance fighters in carrying out any offensive operations against junta forces in the area. “We can't use that route when we want to. We can't access the road while they’re conducting military operations,” he said. “Our weapons and ammunition come from Htee Khee. With them fighting each other, we don’t dare pass through the combat area.” The blockade of a major border trade route has also stalled the movement of goods into Tanintharyi Region and created difficulties for displaced people and migrants seeking work or safety across the border in Thailand, he added. “Our people from inside the country can’t stay here anymore and try to flee to Thailand as refugees. But with this main road blocked, the migrants are getting stranded in remote corners of Dawei District,” he said. Another PDF member based near Dawei agreed. “All of us are facing hardships in living conditions and military operations. We have to retreat sometimes and take evasive action sometimes. What we want is for everyone to unite and completely defeat our common enemy, the military council—that’s the whole of what we wish for,” he said. According to Padoh Saw Eh Nar, the KTLA is attempting to take over Brigade 4's established territory. “The entire KNU organization is fighting against the military council. We’re not fighting each other. While we’re fighting the military council, they come and conduct ambush attacks. When they attack, we have to respond with clearing operations for security reasons,” he said. “This is just like making the military council happy. So I want to urge the two brothers to stay in harmony,” he said, referring to the two Karen groups. “Please work together and conduct military operations together.” Myanmar Now attempted to contact spokespersons for the KTLA about the current state of the conflict but received no response. According to the PDF’s Combined Forces Tactical Commander in Dawei District, the PDF will not take sides in the clashes between the KTLA and KNLA’s Brigade 4. The PDF urges the two Karen fighting forces to meet and hold negotiations as soon as possible so that they may return their focus to fighting against their common enemy, the military junta, he said.

Fighting ongoing between Karen armed groups in Myanmar’s south

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) is engaged in intense clashes with the Kawthoolei Army (KTLA), which split from the larger organisation last year, with battles disrupting anti-junta operations and making travel difficult for displaced people

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