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Photo Essay: Karenni resistance forces make territorial gains in Demoso Township

Photos show military bases abandoned in the township south of the Karenni State capital, and the homes destroyed in the junta’s indiscriminate attacks to maintain control of the region

Karenni State’s Demoso Township, south of the state capital of Loikaw, has come largely under the control of resistance forces after they overran multiple junta posts in the area this month, pushing the remaining military units to two sites near a dam. 

Anti-junta groups turned their attention to Demoso after launching an offensive dubbed Operation 1111 on November 11 in an effort to force the Myanmar army out of Loikaw, considered the military’s last stronghold in the state. Involved in the offensive, and the push to reclaim Demoso, were groups including the Karenni Army, Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, Karenni National People’s Liberation Front and the National Unity Government’s People’s Defence Force. 

During the two weeks of battles that later took place in Demoso, members of another local resistance force called the Wolf Column stated that “several” military bases were destroyed and soldiers fled, allowing guerrilla groups to seize the locations. They noted that, at the time of reporting, Myanmar army troops still had a presence in Demoso, but were mostly limited to the bases of Infantry Battalion 102 and Light Infantry Battalion 427 at the Ngwe Taung dam in Demoso.

An officer in the Karenni Army told Myanmar Now that resistance forces had claimed control of “85 percent” of neighbouring Loikaw more than one month after the launch of Operation 1111, limiting the junta’s ability to administrate the city.

Members of various resistance groups inspect army bases and a police station seized from the military in Demoso in December, as well as civilian homes damaged in junta attacks, and a local church once attended by the township’s now displaced residents (Esther J / Myanmar Now

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