Another Myanmar army outpost near Karen State’s border with Thailand was seized by the Karen National Union (KNU) and the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) last week.
Members of Battalion 18 of the Karen National Liberation Army—the armed wing of the KNU—and PDF units operating in the area jointly overran the site near Khwi Ka Lon village, located between Kyainseikgyi and Kawkareik townships. The area is recognised by the KNU as Dooplaya District, and administered by the ethnic armed organisation as Brigade 6.
Ne Dah Htoo, Brigade 6’s tactical commander, told Myanmar Now on September 14 that around 24 soldiers had been stationed at the junta post in question, situated nearly 8km from the Thai-Myanmar border.
Dooplaya District secretary Padoh Saw Liston described the site as “strategic” due to its proximity to the border.
Fighting around the camp started at around 6am that day and lasted for more than five hours, Ne Dah Htoo said.
Nine junta troops were killed and the rest fled, according to a statement released by the KNU after the clash. The resistance coalition reportedly suffered one casualty, saw three fighters injured, and seized several weapons and ammunition from the outpost.
After overrunning the site, the same resistance forces attacked a second military base near the border, opposite the Thai village of Ban Le Tong Khu in Tak Province’s Umphang District. Earlier this month, up to 100 armed junta soldiers stationed themselves in the community on Thai soil, an act which was documented and shared by residents on social media. Thai MP Kannavee Suebsang pressed his government to investigate the Myanmar troops’ movements in the country.
Also on September 14, a column of some 100 Myanmar army soldiers clashed with the KNU-PDF resistance coalition near Ta Khun Taing village in Dooplaya District. The junta troops were reportedly from Infantry Battalion 2—under Light Infantry Division 44—as well as Artillery Battalion 318 and Border Guard Force 1021.
A separate KNU statement described the soldiers as reinforcements sent to defend Ta Khun Taing’s police station.
The military sent an attack helicopter to strike the area from its southeastern command in Mawlamyine, Mon State, more than than 65km northwest of Ta Khun Taing at 9:40am that day. One resistance fighter was killed and a school and several houses were damaged in the aerial assault, the KNU said.
Some 15,000 residents had to flee their homes due to the clashes, amid heavy rain.
The KNU and its allies have seized several junta outposts in Myawaddy, Kyainseikgyi and Kawkareik townships since Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup.
The ethnic armed organisation has officially declared the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement—which it signed in 2015 with the military and then-government—void due to the coup.
