Karenni resistance forces say they have captured two more junta outposts in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Mese Township, bringing the total number under their control to five.
On Friday, allied anti-regime groups overran an outpost located east of the town of Mese that was manned by troops from Light Infantry Battalion 430, based in Bawlakhe Township.
The following morning, Border Post (BP) 13, on the border with Thailand, also fell, according to Khu Nyay Reh, a spokesperson for the Karenni Military Information Center.
“Most of them just surrendered without us having to fire a shot,” he said, adding that 18 of the soldiers stationed at BP 13 had been taken into custody, while three others were still unaccounted for.
On June 13, resistance forces carried out a series of coordinated attacks on three military outposts and a police station in Mese Township, capturing all four junta targets.
“You could say that the entire town is now under our control,” said Khu Nyay Reh.
Last week, the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), a ceasefire group that had joined a Border Guard Force (BGF) under the command of Myanmar’s military, confirmed that it took part in the June 13 operation.
Since then, its positions in Mese Township, including its command centre in the town of Hose Myothit, have been targeted by airstrikes and heavy artillery fire, the group said.
Serious fighting was also reported last week near the Salween (Thanlyin) River, which separates Mese Township from Hpasawng Township to the north.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the Hpasawng People’s Defence Team, clashes broke out near the Hpasawng Township village of Kyauk Pein Nyo on June 20 and again the next day near a bridge spanning the Salween, as Karenni forces sought to fight back junta reinforcements heading for Mese Township.
No casualty figures were provided in the statement, which claimed the fighting ended with the retreat of the regime forces.
Myanmar Now was also unable to determine the number of dead or wounded on both sides since fighting began in the township earlier this month.
Karenni military analysts attributed the resistance forces’ recent successes in Mese Township to the involvement of the KNPLF, which has operated as a BGF under the command of the Myanmar military since 2009.
Two of the KNPLF’s more than 20 BGF battalions took part in the fighting alongside troops from the Karenni Army, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, and the Karen National Liberation Army as part of an alliance dubbed the “4K Group,” sources said.
Several battalions of the People’s Defence Force, formed by the shadow National Unity Government to resist the junta that seized power in a coup in February 2021, also joined the fighting, the sources added.
