KNU claims to have captured most of Myawaddy

The Karen National Union (KNU) said on Monday that Karen anti-junta forces have captured most of the Thailand-Myanmar border city of Myawaddy, Karen State, but are still fighting for full control. “Myawaddy is our town,” said KNU spokesperson Padoh Saw Kler Say. “Since it belongs to us, it’s crucial for us to oversee the town’s administration.” The Myawaddy is the most populous of several crossings on the border between Thailand and Myanmar and lies on an important trade route between the two countries. The KNU’s armed wing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has been engaged in an offensive operation against the junta in Myawaddy Township since March 7, when it attacked army bases in the village of Thin Gan Nyi Naung on the Myawaddy-Kawkareik section of the Asia Highway, a crucial route for the border trade. Another KNU spokesperson, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, told a Thai media outlet on Monday that the KNLA had successfully captured most of Myawaddy. “We can say that 90 percent of the town is under our control,” Padoh Saw Taw Nee said. “Only Battalion 275 and Division 44 forces remain in the town,” he added, referring to army units that the KNLA is still fighting in Myawaddy. Captain Lin Htet Aung, a Myanmar army officer who defected to the anti-junta resistance, said the odds of a junta victory in Myawaddy are low with so few troops having held their positions. “The military has only a handful of battalion troops remaining in the town. They will not be able to maintain control with such a small troop presence,” the former army officer said. Myawaddy residents told Myanmar Now on Tuesday that life in the town has continued as normal and that they have not heard any sounds of fighting since Saturday. Markets, stores, and clinics continue to operate and the two border bridges connecting Myawaddy to the town of Mae Sot—located across the Thaungyin (Moei) River in Thailand’s Tak Province—are still open, local sources said. “Most people still in the town are staying indoors. Only a few who own property or can afford to rent in Mae Sot have left Myawaddy,” a resident told Myanmar Now on Tuesday. Local social welfare groups are preparing to provide medical assistance and supervise evacuations if fighting breaks out in Myawaddy. “Many residents are concerned about the possibility of clashes. We are making sure we’re ready to give medical treatment and evacuate people in case fighting breaks out,” a social welfare volunteer in Myawaddy said. Despite the absence of junta troops in the town, police headquarters and administrative offices staffed by junta personnel are still functioning in Myawaddy, residents said. More than 477 junta troops, including 67 officers, surrendered to the KNLA and allied forces last Friday at a junta base in Thin Gan Nyi Naung. Some 140 of the troops’ family members, including soldiers’ wives who had been hired as security guards, also surrendered.

KNU claims to have captured most of Myawaddy

Although junta administrative offices are still open and a few army units have not yet withdrawn, the KNU now controls “90 percent” of the largest town on the Myanmar side of the Thai border, according to a spokesperson

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