Myanmar regime forces move to recapture Moebye from Karenni fighters

The Myanmar military launched attacks in the resistance-controlled town of Moebye in southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township this week to retake a crucial supply route from Karenni armed groups. Junta troops attacked resistance frontline positions near the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 422 base beside the Moebye Dam some two miles north of the town on Monday, while the junta air force and artillery force provided support by bombing and shelling, resistance fighters said. The junta shelled continuously during the battles from its bases in Pekhon, southern Shan State and Loikaw, the nearby capital of Karenni (Kayah) State, according to a spokesperson for Tactical Unit 1 of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF). “We lost a security outpost on the night of April 28 due to continuous artillery shelling and airstrikes,” he said. “It was the frontline position closest to the LIB 422 base.” Despite its location in southern Shan State, the anti-junta Interim Executive Council (IEC)—which formed as a civilian government to counter military rule in Karenni State two years after the 2021 coup—reclassified it to fall under Karenni State’s administration in 2024. The clashes in Moebye began when the regime deployed nearly 100 troops on Sunday, followed by an additional 300 on Monday, to raid the area around the LIB 422, according to resistance sources. The PDF spokesperson did not disclose or estimate the number of casualties on either side. However, the Kywe Cho unit of Moebye PDF Battalion 1001 issued a statement on Sunday night claiming one of their comrades was killed in the Moebye battle. Despite capturing the town of Moebye from the junta in November 2023, an alliance of Karenni resistance forces was unable to overrun the LIB 422 base, which is located just outside of town. Since then, the military has held its position at the base, steadily gaining strength by sending reinforcement troops, weapons, and ammunition as it prepared a counteroffensive to retake the town. Members of the resistance forces that have been clashing with junta troops in Moebye (Photo: Tactical Unit 1, Southern Shan State Military Subregion) Since the beginning of this year, the military has deployed members of the Pa-O National Army (PNA), an ethnic armed group led by regime ally Aung Kham Hti, to the base in addition to regular army troops based in the southern Shan State towns of Pinlaung and Pekhon.Although the regime has continued to mobilise its forces and fortify its defences at the LIB 422 base—attacking the resistance’s security outposts in the process—Moebye and much of the surrounding area remain under resistance control, a frontline source said. The source added that at present, more than 500 Myanmar army troops, along with PNA members, have been sent to strengthen the LIB 422 base. “If the resistance loses Moebye, the situation would regress to the pre-Operation 1111 era, opening a route leading to Loikaw,” the source said. Clashes have broken out with increasing frequency throughout April, according to the PDF Tactical Unit 1 spokesperson. “Moebye is strategically important,” he explained. “If the junta captures it, it’s situated between Pekhon and Loikaw and will be an easy gateway to an important road connecting those two towns, because Pekhon is still under their control.” Moebye is essential to the junta’s efforts to restore administrative control in Loikaw, he confirmed. The alliance of Karenni-based resistance groups fighting to prevent the capture of Moebye—and the danger to Loikaw that would likely result from it—includes the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, PDF of Moebye, and Urban Revolutionary Front.

Myanmar regime forces move to recapture Moebye from Karenni fighters

The junta is trying to capture Moebye—located in southern Shan State but under the administrative purview of the anti-junta governing body based in Karenni (Kayah) State—to gain easier access to the Karenni State capital, Loikaw

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