
The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) said it raided a police outpost in Kayah (Karenni) State’s Loikaw Township on Saturday and captured eight police officers without firing a shot.
The ambush, carried out in collaboration with the Karenni Army, the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party, took place at around 1am and lasted just 30 minutes, the commander of the KNDF’s Battalion 10 told Myanmar Now.
“We didn’t need to fire a shot, as they didn’t put up any real resistance,” he said.
Before taking control of the outpost, which served as a security checkpoint for the Lawpita Hydropower Plant, the two groups detained a pair of privates assigned to the night patrol.
“They immediately raised their arms when we told them to put their hands up. Then we pretended to be soldiers on patrol duty and went to where the deputy police chief and sergeant were sleeping and captured them, too,” the KNDF commander said.
Four other police privates who were sleeping in the same place were also captured this way, he added.
“We had to wake them up as they were all asleep,” he said.
The wife and two teenaged daughters of the 44-year-old sergeant were not arrested, according to the commander.
The 38-year-old deputy police chief was the only person who made any attempt to resist, he said.
“He had a loaded gun, so we told him that we had all of his people and would shoot if he didn’t come out. Ten minutes later, he did, with both hands in the air.”
The six police privates were all young men between the ages of 21 and 30.
In addition to taking prisoners, the KNDF said it also seized four G3 guns, four 22AK guns, a revolver, five grenades, and some ammunition.
“You could say that this was one of the very rare occasions that we managed to seize a station without losing a bullet,” the commander added.
He said that the captured police officers were later handed over to the anti-regime Karenni State Police after questioning.
“We didn’t beat or torture them. We also gave them proper food,” he added.
According to the KNDF, a number of junta soldiers have also surrendered to Karenni defence forces and joined them in the fight against the regime.
On April 16, the group released a statement saying that several junta troops from a military column that was assaulting the village of Htarle in Hpruso Township and Nang Phe, a village in Bawlakhe Township, had surrendered to Karenni forces.
Although several battalions have released similar statements, the exact number of regime soldiers who have surrendered or defected in Karenni State is not known.
Myanmar’s junta has not made any official comment on the April 30 ambush.