Three members of the anti-junta resistance were killed in a battle with the Myanmar army after the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) and the Palaw Township People’s Defence Force attempted a joint attack on a military unit in the Tanintharyi Region township on Wednesday.
The KNDO—an armed wing of the Karen National Union—and the Palaw PDF had planned to ambush around 20 soldiers occupying a monastery in the village of Pa Wut Kone, eight miles south of Palaw town, at 5am.
However, the junta troops at the site appeared to have been tipped off about the operation and began a counter-attack before resistance fighters were in position, a spokesperson for the Palaw PDF told Myanmar Now. A seven-hour battle reportedly followed.
“I think the information that we were coming was leaked to the junta. They were waiting for us to arrive and started firing at us before we could start attacking them,” he said. “The clash escalated after that.”
The casualties included Hpa Aye, the KNDO’s 37-year-old squad commander; an 18-year-old private in the ethnic armed organisation whose name was not confirmed at the time of reporting; and Saw Bwar, a 20-year-old member of the Palaw PDF.
“All three of the men were killed by sniper fire,” the PDF spokesperson said.
He explained that the commander was shot in the pelvis and the KNDO private in the head, while the PDF member was fatally struck in the thigh and head as he had attempted to drag the private’s body out of the battle zone.
In response to the guerrilla-style attack, the military sent some 100 troop reinforcements from the Palaw-based Infantry Battalion 285 to Pa Wut Kone, and deployed guards around the village.
There were several clashes between the military and resistance forces in Palaw Township in early 2022, including in Pa Wut Kone.
