Clashes With Armed Ethnic Alliance, 32 Myanmar Military Killed

The KNLA army, the military wing of KNU, managed to detain a number of military regime soldiers and the equipment used. (Twitter/@KnIC_Karenni)

JAKARTA - At least 32 soldiers of the Myanmar military regime were killed, in a gun battle with a joint armed ethnic group based in Karen State and the Myawaddy People's Defense Force (PDF).

Clashes in eastern Myanmar on Tuesday afternoon in Palu, Myawaddy Township, Karen State caused more than 500 local residents to flee across the nearest border with Thailand.

Fighting continued Wednesday at Waw Lay south of Palu, according to local residents and members of Myawaddy PDF. Residents said they had heard dozens of artillery fire since Tuesday.

29 junta soldiers and three members of the local Border Guard Force (BGF), allied to Myanmar's military regime, were killed and eight others injured, in clashes with civil resistance fighters and a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, according to the Karen National Union (KNU) information department for Dooplaya District.

A member of PDF Myawaddy said the 29 soldiers who died were from the 275th Light Infantry Battalion, based in Myawaddy, and three BGF soldiers from the BGF 1022 battalion, led by Major Mote Thone.

Tuesday's fighting in Palu comes as clashes between civil resistance fighters and Myanmar's military have escalated nationwide, with fighting in Kayah State in the southeast, Chin State in the west, Sagaing Region in the northwest, and Kachin State in the north. Both sides have reported casualties.

"Food and shelter are provided by the Thailand authorities and army, while no outsiders are allowed to come into contact with the refugees, due to the fear of COVID-19," said a local aid worker who spoke on condition of anonymity. June.

"More refugees are expected as they can hear the sound of artillery fire at Waw Lay on the other side of the border. One artillery shell landed in Thailand on Wednesday, but no casualties were reported," he added.

At around 4:50 a.m. on Tuesday, the police station in Waw Lay was also attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and the military engineering battalion barracks were set on fire, but no casualties were reported. KNU's information department in Dooplaya district said the artillery strike took place after the morning incident.

To note, there are about 20 ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar military. But so far, only the Chin National Front has publicly committed to working with the civilian National Unity Government set up to overthrow the junta.

While several brigades of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), KNU's ethnic armed military wing, have been fighting the military continuously since the February 1 coup, the KNU has not announced its support for the People's Defense Forces that was formed recently to fight. junta.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.