24-4-2024 (BANGKOK) In a strategic move, a Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from the town of Myawaddy along the Thai border, following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta. The rebels had wrested control of this key trading post earlier this month, but the junta’s forces have regained their foothold in the vital area.
The Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armed groups, confirmed the “temporary retreat” from Myawaddy, a town that serves as a crucial conduit for annual foreign trade worth over $1 billion.
Saw Taw Nee, a spokesperson for the KNU, stated that the withdrawal was necessitated by the return of junta soldiers to the strategic location. However, he vowed that the group’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), would “destroy the junta troops and their back-up troops who marched to Myawaddy.”
Fighting had escalated in Myawaddy as recently as last Saturday, forcing around 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a border bridge crossing. While many of those civilians have since returned, the Thai government has urged Myanmar to prevent the fighting from spilling across the border.
Photographs circulating on pro-junta social media groups depicted a handful of soldiers raising the Myanmar flag at a military base that the KNU had controlled just days before, where the rebel group had previously raised its own banner.
According to Saw Taw Nee, the junta was able to enter the area with the assistance of a regional militia, the Karen National Army, which had stood aside when the KNU laid siege to Myawaddy earlier this month.
Three years after its coup ousted a democratically-elected civilian government, Myanmar’s junta is facing unprecedented pressure, having lost control of a string of key frontier areas to rebel groups. The recent events in Myawaddy highlight the fragility of the junta’s grip on power and the determination of armed ethnic groups to challenge its authority.
As the conflict continues to simmer, concerns grow over the potential for further displacement of civilians and the risk of the violence spilling over into neighboring countries. The situation underscores the ongoing instability in Myanmar and the complexity of the challenges faced by the international community in addressing the crisis.
