More than 160 junta soldiers were killed in the nearly month-long battle for Shadaw town in Karenni (Kayah) State, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) said in a statement released Sunday.
Junta officers ranked colonel, lieutenant-colonel and major were among those killed, the ethnic army said in an update on the war in the eastern state.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the figures in the KNDF report.
The report said that on Feb. 5, seven civilians were arrested by junta troops in Shadaw. They included a pregnant woman, two women with disabilities and three children aged three, five and seven, the KNDF said.
The civilians, including the three children, were executed the next day by gunfire.
Also on Feb. 5, four children and one man were killed by airstrikes on two schools in the state’s Demoso Township.
Along with allies, the KNDF began attacking Shadaw town on Jan. 15 and seized it on Feb. 12.
Relatives of junta soldiers captured in the fighting for Shadaw are being detained in compliance with international law, the KNDF said.
Karenni resistance forces have also been fighting to seize the state capital, Loikaw, for months. Clashes between resistance forces trying to seize Loikaw and junta troops defending it occurred daily last month, the KNDF said.
Loikaw is surrounded by resistance forces. The junta has to airlift supplies and reinforcements into the town. Loikaw has been hit daily by shelling, airstrikes and drone attacks that have destroyed civilian homes, the KNDF said.
Clashes have also broken out in the state’s Bawlakhe Township and in Shan State’s Pekon Township which borders Karenni State.
The KNDF said that 25 civilians – including the seven who were executed – were killed and 42 others were injured by shelling and airstrikes in Karenni State last month.
Landmines are a rising threat in the state. At least one person lost a leg after stepping on a landmine planted by junta troops in Demoso Township last month, the KNDF said.
