15-4-2024 (TAK) A resistance group battling Myanmar’s military rulers has claimed its fighters successfully thwarted attempts by junta troops to recapture the key border town of Myawaddy, seized by rebels last week along the Thai frontier.
The Karen National Union (KNU) stated reinforcement forces from the junta have been trying to advance on Myawaddy for days but were pushed back in clashes around 40 kilometres away. “It is not easy to come here. They face a lot of difficulty,” KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee told Reuters, saying the rebel group’s forces had been “blocking and intercepting” the military’s troops.
The border town of Myawaddy, adjacent to Thailand’s Mae Sot district, fell under control of an anti-junta coalition led by the KNU on Thursday after intense fighting with junta soldiers.
Saw Taw Nee said fresh battles erupted on Friday between the villages of Kawkareik and Kaw Nwet along the Asian Highway 1 leading westward from the Thai border crossing. He claimed information from the frontlines indicated around 100 deaths and injuries among junta ranks, stating “We know that they suffered a loss of one armed carrier and a military truck.”
Myanmar has grappled with turmoil since the powerful military’s 2021 coup toppled an elected civilian government, sparking widespread protests met with a brutal crackdown. The simmering public anger has since morphed into an armed nationwide resistance increasingly coordinating with established ethnic rebel outfits to challenge the junta across swathes of the country.
Saw Taw Nee acknowledged the resistance “will take time”, stressing “We need to have a kind of coordination with other groups…to defeat the military.” He noted challenges within the broad anti-coup coalition itself, stating “We are still in the process of how to negotiate, how to come together and how to move forward among our Karen groups.”
The KNU representative highlighted the plight of over one million displaced civilians within rebel-controlled territories as an immediate concern, urging the international community and neighbouring Thailand to provide support. “We really need to work together more and more on this issue,” he appealed.
Saw Taw Nee also issued a message to Myanmar’s junta, urging them to heed their recent battlefield losses as a sign to relinquish power to the people. “Please don’t waste time any more. This is the time, and a good opportunity, to listen to people first,” he stated.
