In an official order released on Wednesday, the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) called on the Myanmar army to withdraw from two bases in Mon State’s Bilin Township within three days or face military action.
The directive was published by Battalion 2 of the KNDO—an armed organisation under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU)—and refers to junta posts in Lay Kay and Win Tar Pan villages.
The bases are eight miles apart and located at the border with Karen State’s Hpa-an Township, surrounded by forest.
They are situated within territory controlled by Brigade 1 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the primary armed wing of the KNU, which, in addition to Bilin, operates in Kyaikhto and Thaton townships in Mon State and Hpa-an in Karen State.
Junta soldiers stationed in the Lay Kay and Win Tar Pan posts were instructed by the KNDO to decide on a route and date for their departure, and to inform the KNU ahead of the deadline if they wished to surrender.
According to the order, the demand for withdrawal was issued to prevent the military from committing crimes in the area in question, including the arrest, torture and rape of civilians and the destruction of homes and villages. The junta’s armed forces have been widely accused of perpetrating such atrocities nationwide both since the February 2021 military coup and during the decades of civil war that preceded it.
Representatives from the KNDO were not available for comment, but KNU spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee told Myanmar Now that the order marked a further step towards toppling the junta.
“We need to go to war on all diplomatic, political, administrative, economic and military fronts in order to take down the dictatorship,” he said.
The spokesperson did not comment on whether the KNU would issue similar directives throughout its seven districts, which span a territory that includes parts of Bago Region, through Karen State and areas of Mon State, and south to Dawei in Tanintharyi.
Padoh Saw Taw Nee noted that the military had ignored repeated warnings to cease operations and withdraw from areas including Karen State’s Myawaddy Township. Lay Kay Kaw—a site of fierce air and ground offensives by the junta’s forces in recent months—is located in Myawaddy, and continues to be the site of a major civilian displacement crisis.
“We have asked them to withdraw from their frontline bases before, if they really have the will to participate in a ceasefire,” the spokesperson said. “This time is different from that,” he added, implying that serious action by Karen forces would follow if there were to be a lack of compliance on the part of the military.
On the same day that the order for Bilin was issued, the KNLA attacked the Wah Boe Taw military checkpoint in Hpa-an on the road connecting the Karen State capital with Thaton. At least six police officers were reportedly killed.
Serious battles between Karen forces and the military have been ongoing in multiple areas throughout southeastern Myanmar, including along roads in Mon and Karen states.
In Myawaddy Township, the KNLA forced junta troops to flee from its base in Maw Khee, seizing weapons and supplies. The military reclaimed the site in early April, reportedly suffering major casualties in the effort.
