Myanmar junta sending troops through Thailand to defend key border base

Myanmar’s military is sending reinforcements through Thailand to defend a key base on the Thai-Myanmar border, according to resistance sources in Tanintharyi Region’s Dawei Township. The push to take the base near the border town of Htee Khee has intensified since the junta’s Htee Hta tactical hill camp, located about five miles from Htee Khee, was captured on April 19, said a high-ranking officer from Brigade 4 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which is leading the offensive. “Their reinforcements aren’t coming through on this road, they’re coming through Thailand. They’re coming through Nat Eain Taung [Ban-I-Tong], a village on the border where many Myanmar people live. They can’t come to Htee Khee via the Dawei-Htee Khee road, because we control the entire route,” the officer said. “About 200 troops who were originally sent as reinforcements for the Htee Hta base arrived at the Htee Khee base after Htee Hta fell. The way they arrived was slightly different from what we had anticipated. But we will fight to take it no matter what,” he added. The junta has also been carrying out regular airstrikes to defend the Htee Khee base, the officer said, adding that 15 junta troops were taken prisoner during the capture of the Htee Hta base. “When we captured that tactical hill, the junta side had more than 100 troops. They didn’t surrender. We seized over 50 weapons. Of the more than 100 troops, some died, some fled. We captured 15 alive,” he said. One of the prisoners was a tactical operations commander who died after being shot during interrogation, the KNLA officer said, without providing further details. According to Zin Yaw, a former Myanmar army captain who defected after the military seised power more than four years ago, the Htee Khee base houses troops from Infantry Battalion 273, which operates under the Coastal Regional Military Command (RMC). He noted that Maj-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Han, the Coastal RMC commander, appears to have an understanding with his Thai counterpart. “He is very close with the Thai military regional commander. Since the Htee Khee base is blocked from the Myanmar side, reinforcements had to have to come through Thailand,” he said. In the four townships of Dawei District where fighting occurs daily, junta airstrikes killed six civilians and injured at least 10 in April, according to the Dawna Tenasserim IDP Support Group, which estimates that the conflict has displaced around 20,000 people. Junta troops are advancing near villages along the No. 8 Union Highway in Yebyu Township, the Dawei-Htee Khee road, and near the Dawei deep-sea port, said Ko Yonathan from the Dawna Tenasserim Refugee Supply Force. “The military is targeting civilian buildings rather than military targets. People need to be careful about this,” he told Myanmar Now on Monday. In Tanintharyi Region, more than 66,800 people were displaced in March, including more than 27,300 in Dawei District, according to the monitoring group FE5Tanintharyi in a statement on April 23. In Tanintharyi Township alone, about 18,500 locals have fled, according to the statement.

Myanmar junta sending troops through Thailand to defend key border base

Resistance forces say the regime is also carrying out daily airstrikes to defend its base near the border town of Htee Khee

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