Military clashes with Karen forces while advancing near Thailand-Myanmar border

Anti-junta fighters led by an armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) have been fighting to repel an advance by regime forces near the border town of Myawaddy since late last week, local sources said. Fierce clashes between the military and the anti-junta alliance—commanded by the KNU’s Karen National Liberation Army—were ongoing as of Monday near Htee Mei Wah Khee, a village outside the town of Lay Kay Kaw, Myawaddy Township, residents told Myanmar Now. “The military is trying to regain ground they previously lost to the anti-junta forces,” a man from Htee Mei Wah Khee said on Monday. “The battle is raging less than 300 yards from where I am.” The military has been firing artillery from the Infantry Battalion (IB) 275 base on the outskirts of Myawaddy to support movements by junta ground troops near Lay Kay Kaw, a newly developed town some six miles south of Myawaddy. Myawaddy is a border trade hub located on the Thaungyin (Moei) River opposite the town of Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak Province. Following a period of quiet, clashes resumed in Myawaddy Township after junta forces regained control of a vital highway between the towns of Kyondoe and Kawkareik in Karen State in late July. The regime’s ground troops later captured the village of Thingan Nyi Naung on a major trade route into Myawaddy in early September. The anti-junta forces also fell back from Lat Khat Taung, a hilltop outpost they had occupied since capturing it from the army in mid-2023, regrouping in Lay Kay Kaw to fend off the junta advance. “Three columns of around 300 junta troops are pushing into Lay Kay Kaw supported by heavy artillery shelling,” an anti-junta fighter said. “They are also deploying drones to bomb Hpa Lu and Min Lat Pan villages,” he added. Sources close to the anti-junta armed groups said the military’s aim was to recapture Lay Kay Kaw, then take back control of the 40 miles of road between the towns of Myawaddy and Waw Lay Myaing (Waw Lay) from the Karen-led forces. “Their intent is to reclaim the Myawaddy-Waw Lay Myaing route and regain control of the outposts they lost to resistance forces in the south of Myawaddy Township along the border,” a source close to resistance forces said. “Anti-junta forces have been blocking and surrounding the key junta base in Waw Lay since mid-July.” Residents from Bei Hee Ka Law, Ya Thayt Gu, Htee Mei Wah Khee, and Lay Kay Kaw have been displaced as fighting resumed in Myawaddy Township, a week after junta troops recaptured the Lat Khat Taung outpost. Local sources also said at least 500 displaced residents are sheltering in a monastery in Me Htaw Tha Lay Village amid the clashes.

Military clashes with Karen forces while advancing near Thailand-Myanmar border

While junta forces have been regaining ground in Karen State, anti-junta forces said they were still fending off assaults on the newly developed town of Lay Kay Kaw and still controlled the road between Myawaddy and Waw Lay Myaing

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