Further clashes break out between resistance and junta forces in southern Shan, Karenni states

The anti-junta Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) launched a lethal attack on a military vehicle southeast of Loikaw last week, causing multiple casualties, a spokesperson for the resistance group said. 

The Myanmar army truck in question was reportedly travelling along the road to the Lawpita hydropower station, some 12 miles southeast of the state capital, when the KNDF ambushed it on the morning of June 30. A 20-minute clash followed.

“Three personnel inside the vehicle were killed on the spot and another person that came by motorcycle to check on the situation was also killed,” the group’s information officer told Myanmar Now. 

Among them was a captain, a sergeant and two privates, he added. Before withdrawing, the KNDF claimed to have seized a pistol, bullets, and two phones that belonged to the Myanmar army soldiers. They reported no casualties of their own.

Myanmar Now is unable to independently verify the resistance force’s account of the incident. 

Three days earlier near the town of Loilin Lay in northern Loikaw, a military assault forced residents of 10 villages in Hti Se Khar village tract to flee their homes, a man from one of the communities told Myanmar Now. 

Battalion 1005 within the Southern Shan People’s Defence Force (PDF) released a statement reporting that the next day, they had launched a counterattack on the column that had carried out the raids in the area.

At the time of reporting, the villager from Hti Se Khar tract said that the situation had “calmed down” and that some of those displaced had returned to their homes. 

Junta raids on villages around Loilin Lay and subsequent clashes with resistance forces date back to December of last year, when civilians in the area were also forced to take refuge in area forests. 

Throughout June in Karenni State alone, there were more than 30 battles between the military and resistance forces. Junta shellings and arson attacks destroyed at least 12 homes and two religious buildings, KNDF said in a July 1 statement. More than 200,000 civilians have been displaced since the fighting began last year. 

Across the regional border in Moebye, in southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township, the local PDF chapter—which months ago declared the area a warzone—warned the public on June 28 to stay away from the junta-occupied village of Wari Su Palai due to planned attacks against Myanmar army forces aimed at cutting off their supply lines.