Following the April 10 defeat by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied resistance forces of the Myanmar military’s Infantry Battalion 275, the regime’s last line of defense in the town of Myawaddy, the major trading hub on the Thai border has been largely freed from the military regime’s control.
Though it has been nine days, the situation in the border town remains fluid. As part of the junta’s Operation Aung Zeya, which aims to retake the town, Myanmar military units are trying to approach Myawaddy via Kawkareik, a town 43 km to the west. Myawaddy residents live in fear of possible regime airstrikes, as they are aware that the junta won’t let the border hub—which sees annual trade volume of US$1 billion—go easily.
Despite their leading role in seizing the town, KNLA and People’s Defense Force (PDF) troops have rarely been seen in the town.
Instead, troops from other Karen armed groups that were until recently loyal to the military administration are guarding the town. They are from the Karen National Army (KNA), KNU/KNLA-PC and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), according to Myawaddy residents.
They have been handed this mission out of concern for the security and safety of the residents, according to sources on the ground.
Led by Colonel Saw Chit Thu, the KNA was formerly known as the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF). Despite his previous allegiance to the junta, he last year split from them and converted the BGF to the KNA.
A KNLA officer on the ground said none of the groups currently inside Myawaddy town was involved in the previous clashes, so their presence was seen as unlikely to spark future clashes in Myawaddy.
Instead, he explained, they hold a neutral position and their role is confined to ensuring the security and safety of people inside the township.
Experts monitoring the conflict in Myawaddy Township said the Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA, is carefully managing combat operations in Myawaddy to avoid harming or causing suffering to residents.
They explained that the KNLA is not present in Myawaddy because the KNU wants to avoid provoking an immediate attack on the town by junta forces. Instead, it is leaving the mission of guarding the town to other Karen armed groups that were not involved in seizing it.
KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee was not available for comment.
Though it has not entered Myawaddy, the KNU said it is making preparations and arrangements to ensure the peace and stability of the town.
In a statement released on April 12, the KNU said it is deeply concerned about the security of the people living on both sides of the Thailand-Myanmar border.
“We are making necessary preparations and arrangements for the continuity of rules-based cross-border activities in line with regional best practices,” said the KNU, adding that it is working with “all concerned parties.”
As of Friday, no clashes or airstrikes had been reported in Myawaddy since it fell.
“It’s not like the KNU and PDF are no longer attacking junta troops or no longer [consolidating their control of] the town. As the KNLA and KNA have a sort of alliance agreement, we are just not entering the town yet,” said Saw Mya, an official of Cobra Column 2 Venom, a unit that is part of both the KNLA and the PDF, under their joint command structure.
However, there have been no official statements or press releases providing details of the agreements reached between the KNU and the KNA, or between the KNU and other Karen armed groups currently active inside Myawaddy.
Myawaddy residents said the town seems normal, though there is a fear of regime attacks. They said the town’s police station is open and the junta’s police officers are staying inside the building, while immigration officers are also still working on the border gate with Thailand.
But the regime’s counteroffensive continues to loom over the town.
On Thursday, the KNU warned that junta troops involved in Operation Aung Zeya were still trying to approach Myawaddy.
“As we have ambushed them, the junta’s military has lost many trucks and armored vehicles and over a hundred of its troops have been injured; some of them died,” the KNU said in a statement.
On the same day, a rumor spread among residents that the town’s population would be ordered to evacuate.
When The Irrawaddy asked the KNA’s Col. Saw Chit Thu on Thursday about the possibility of fighting in the town, he said he couldn’t make any guarantees.
“We can’t exactly say yes or no, as the whole country is suffering, not only in Myawaddy.”
