Myanmar regime struggles to strengthen its position in Myawaddy

Nearly six months after retaking the town of Myawaddy on the Thai-Myanmar border, the military’s hold over the area remains tenuous, according to local sources. On Friday, the regime lost control of a key hilltop base south of the town, forcing troops stationed there to retreat to the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 275 base near Myawaddy, the sources said. The Swel Taw Kone base, located near the village of Lay Kay Kaw, provided artillery support to junta forces in and around Myawaddy. It had been under siege for four months before falling to a coalition of resistance forces. The Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), which continues to cooperate with Myanmar’s military despite distancing itself from the regime earlier this year, facilitated the withdrawal of troops from the base, according to a source close to the group. “The BGF requested a ceasefire and opened a route for the junta troops to retreat,” the source told Myanmar Now on Monday. Two days later, the junta airlifted reinforcements and supplies to the LIB 275 base, which resistance forces led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) captured and held for more than a week in April. According to the Karen BGF source, two paratroopers were killed during the operation, which was carried out to evade ambushes by anti-regime forces on the ground. “Only a few paratroopers were involved, and two died at the scene when their parachutes failed to open. The main goal was to deliver weapons and ammunition to the LIB 275 base,” the source said. The Karen BGF, which is in charge of security in Myawaddy, also has troops stationed near the LIB 275 base. There have also been reports that the Aung Zeya column—a major deployment of junta troops that has been trying to reach Myawaddy from the west for the past six months, continues to suffer heavy losses. “They are losing a lot of troops to ambushes in the Dawna mountain range,” said a resistance source. “At one point, they got close to the entrance to Myawaddy, but then they were surrounded and attacked from all sides, throwing them into disarray and forcing them to retreat.” According to the source, the strategy has been to allow the heavily-armed column to advance into “killing fields” where it is vulnerable to attack. The Aung Zeya column has armoured vehicles, heavy artillery, and multi-rocket launcher vehicles, and is directly overseen by Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the junta’s second-in-command. While it initially included 500 troops, its current troop strength is unknown. The regime has also carried out airstrikes in the Dawna range to support the column, most recently on Sunday, according to resistance sources. The Dawna range lies between Myawaddy and the town of Kawkareik to the west. It usually takes about an hour to travel between the two towns along either the Asia Highway or the Kawkareik-Myawaddy road.

Myanmar regime struggles to strengthen its position in Myawaddy

Six months after it lost and regained control over the town on the Thai-Myanmar border, the military continues to face devastating attacks from resistance forces

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