The Karen National Union (KNU) and allied resistance forces seized a junta military base and a supply station in Karen State’s Papun Township on April 24, KNU Brigade 5 said in a statement.
The township is on the state’s northern tip, near the border with Thailand.
Troops from the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and other resistance groups launched joint attacks on the headquarters of the junta’s Infantry Battalion 434 and its No. 642 Military Uniform and Equipment Supply Station in Papun Township on April 23.
Resistance troops seized the base and supply store at about 4 am on April 24, the statement from Brigade 5 said.
“We would like to tell to the people that we keep fighting every day and night to uproot the military dictatorship and for self-determination,” Captain L Khu Soe, commander of KNLA Brigade 5, said.
Weapons and ammunition were also seized from the base, the statement said.
Papun Town was captured by the KNU and its allies at the end of last month. Since then, the junta’s military has been trying to retake it, and they have been hitting Papun district with drone attacks and airstrikes that have destroyed homes and public buildings. Cluster bombs have been dropped in the district as well.
Thousands of residents of the district have fled their homes and many of them are living in makeshift shelters in forests.
