Bangkok – Clashes between Myanmar’s junta and anti-regime groups have broken out again near a vital trade hub close to Thailand’s border, the Thai army said on Saturday, following a week of relative calm.
Fighting broke out around Myawaddy earlier this month with the junta forced to withdraw from its positions in the town.
However, the area had been mostly quiet in the past week, with locals reporting hearing no fighting although a regional bloc expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing situation on Friday.
During the earlier clashes, some soldiers had taken shelter under a bridge connecting Myadwaddy to the Thai town of Mae Sot, according to the anti-junta Karen National Union (KNU).
KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee told the media that the group was fighting against the junta in Myawaddy, but did not give details.
On Saturday morning, a Thai army unit stationed on the border said clashes were ongoing with a force targeting the junta soldiers under the bridge.
“Currently in the middle of fighting, no losses known,” the Rajamnu Special Task Force posted on Facebook.
It said forces had deployed “drones” against soldiers under the Second Friendship Bridge, a major trade point for Myanmar.
The Thai task force confirmed the bridge was closed and said its soldiers were standing by.
Pittayakorn Petcharat, the Mae Sot police chief, told AFP Saturday afternoon that the fighting was “intensifying”.
He said “around 2,000” people had crossed the Thai border, with local authorities searching them for weapons.
“We have given them food and moved them to the safer place,” he added.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted on X that he was monitoring the situation closely, and would provide humanitarian assistance.
However, he warned that Thailand was “ready to protect our borders and the safety of our people”.
The military’s decision to pull troops from posts in the trading town was a major blow to the junta, which has suffered a string of losses in recent months.
Myawaddy is particularly important to the military, with more than US$1.1 billion worth of trade passing through it in the 12 months to April.
A Myawaddy truck driver, who declined to give their name, told AFP they had heard clashes.
“Fighting is not in the town but outside of the town. We haven’t heard anything at this moment,” they said.
The Thai media shared videos apparently of many people queuing to cross into Thailand.
