Karenni resistance fighters occupy Thailand-Myanmar border town of Hpasawng

Anti-junta forces overran a military base manned by the Myanmar army’s infantry battalion (IB) 135 in Hpasawng, Karenni (Kayah) State last week, forcing the troops to retreat and effectively taking over the town, a source close to the anti-junta groups said. The IB 135 troops retreated from their base—located near a bridge over the Salween (Thanlyin) River—while under attack by an alliance of anti-junta armed organisations. They withdrew to a base manned by IB 134, located on high ground outside of Hpasawng, where they have regrouped and are preparing to fend off further attacks, the source said. “They are preparing to defend the base at the top up the hill. I think they are also planning to carry out artillery and air strikes,” he added. Anti-junta armed groups have captured most of Hpasawng Township, including the Hpasawng Myoma Police Station. The anti-junta resistance forces—which include fighters from the Karenni Army (KA), the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), and the People’s Defence Forces (PDF)—initiated the assaults on the township on February 28. The army troops responded with heavy artillery strikes as fighting continued for the next 15 days. KA and KNDF soldiers seen in Demoso Township in mid-October 2021 (AFP) Some two-thirds of the houses in Hpasawng were badly damaged or destroyed and at least five civilians have been killed during the clashes, sources connected with the KA said. However, the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC)—a cabinet formed and endorsed by anti-junta organisations active in Karenni State—said they could only confirm that the junta air force had killed two civilians in Hpasawng. “They dropped bombs on a monastery, and I heard they took the people sheltering there back to the military base and haven’t let anyone go. We also received word that they were ‘preparing human shields’,” said Banyar Khun Aung, a Karenni IEC joint secretary. “The military troops are still in their base,” Banyar Khun Aung added. Hpasawng Township has a civilian population of around 25,000 according to data compiled in 2019 by the General Administration Department in the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was overseen by the military in accordance with the military-drafted 2008 constitution even before the 2021 coup. Karenni medical service workers helping an injured child from Hpasawng (Free Burma Ranger) A police sergeant and two police officers at the Hpasawng Myoma Police Station surrendered to the Bawlakhe District PDF on March 3. The PDF also said they took possession of four rifles, five grenades, and a cache of ammunition kept at the station. The Free Burma Rangers (FBR)—an international humanitarian organisation that provides emergency services—is also carrying out rescue options and evacuations in Hpawsawng in coordination with the KA and KNDF. The FBR said they were providing medical care for an injured 7-year-old girl and an injured middle-aged man, adding that it was still too dangerous for civilians to resettle in Hpasawng due to the risk of triggering landmines and explosives left behind by the military. After a video circulated on social media showing at least 10 KA fighters walking along the Salween River bridge, a KA-connected source issued a warning that the bridge was in range of the junta artillery at the IB 134 base and was not safe for civilian use. Karenni resistance forces have seized the Karenni State towns of Mese, Shadaw, Mawchee, and Nan Mei Khon, as well as Moebye in southern Shan State. The junta forces have retained only partial control of the Karenni State capital of Loikaw and are continuing to fend off anti-junta attacks there. The Pa-O National Liberation Army, which has allied with the Karenni armed groups against the junta, has also succeeded in taking control of the town of Hsihseng, southern Shan State, located just north of Pekhon Township. While there are still active junta battalions in the Karenni State towns of Bawlakhe, Hpruso, and Demoso and in the southern Shan State towns of Moebye and Pekhon, Karenni anti-junta forces have cut off nearly all overland routes that would allow the military to send them supplies or reinforcements. The Karenni IEC has begun to offer an express bus service between Mese and Demoso townships, charging a fare of 300,000 kyat (US $143). Amid the clashes and losses in Karenni State, the military regime appears to have stopped holding a university matriculation there. A list of exam locations published recently in the junta-controlled newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar did not include an exam site in the state.

Karenni resistance fighters occupy Thailand-Myanmar border town of Hpasawng

The anti-junta armed organisations that took part in the battle for the town are coordinating with the humanitarian aid group Free Burma Rangers to organise evacuations and provide emergency medical care for injured civilians

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