KNLA and allies repel Myanmar junta troops trying to reach Myawaddy

A massive army column reportedly led by the Myanmar regime’s second-in-command is attempting to cross the Dawna Hills to the border town of Myawaddy, according to sources in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The 1,000-strong column, based in a village in Karen State’s Kawkareik Township, has been trying to get across the mountain range since Saturday but has been repeatedly intercepted, a KNLA officer told Myanmar Now. “The battle is continuing every day. Their situation is that they have to keep retreating because they cannot advance,” said KNLA Brigade 6 tactical commander Ne Dah Htoo. The junta troops, all from Light Infantry Division (LID) 55, are believed to be under the command of Vice Senior General Soe Win, the junta’s second-most powerful general after the leader of the coup regime, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Myawaddy, a major trading hub on the Myanmar-Thai border, was captured by the KNLA and its allies last week. Kawt Nwet, the village where the column is currently encamped, is located about 26 miles to the west. According to Ne Dah Htoo, the column is equipped with armoured vehicles and multiple-rocket-launching systems. On Monday, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the spokesperson for the KNLA’s political wing, the Karen National Union (KNU), told the Reuters news agency that at least one armoured personnel carrier and another military vehicle had been destroyed. He also claimed that around 100 junta troops had been killed or injured in the recent fighting. KNLA and allied troops in the captured village of Thin Gan Nyi Naung, just west of Myawaddy (Supplied) Last Friday, the regime successfully regained full control of the town of Kawkareik, which had been under siege by the KNLA since late last year. Residents of at least six villages south of the town have been forced to flee the fighting, according to local sources. The KNLA-led forces allowed the regime to take the town because they knew they would be in a stronger position if they took the fight to the Dawna Hills, according to a military analyst who spoke to Myanmar Now. “It will be very challenging for the army to get through. I anticipate that the LID 55 will need to endure significant losses," he said. Meanwhile, around 200 junta troops remain effectively trapped near the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2, which spans the Moei (Thaungyin) River between Myanmar and Thailand, as they await the arrival of reinforcements. According to a member of a local resistance group, at least three civilians have been shot by the regime forces since Friday, including one who was killed on Sunday. “Some people went up to the edge of the fence [separating them from the soldiers] and started cursing them. [The soldiers] opened fire, killing one person on the spot and injuring another,” said Saw Leh Htoo, an officer of the Mya Sandy resistance column. Residents and resistance forces say they also believe that the soldiers have been receiving food from members of the Karen State Border Guard Force, which was previously aligned with the regime but which has more recently declared its neutrality. The KNU has released statements warning locals to stay away from the bridge and to prepare to take shelter in the event of junta airstrikes.

KNLA and allies repel Myanmar junta troops trying to reach Myawaddy

Efforts to send a huge number of heavily armed reinforcements across a mountain range to the major trading hub on the Thai-Myanmar border have reportedly resulted in heavy losses

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