Anti-regime Karenni resistance groups claimed to have defeated a military unit of 80 troops heading to the Karenni (Kayah) State capital Loikaw from southern Shan State on Tuesday.
The joint resistance groups including the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF); the Karenni Army (KA) (the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); and the ethnic Pa-O National Defense Force (PNDF) attacked the regime unit outside Loikaw.
The regime forces were marching to Loikaw from Mobye town in southern Shan State’s Pekon Township, a KA spokesperson told the media.
The regime forces were from Light Infantry Battalion 80 under the command of Military Division 66.
KNDF Deputy Commander Marwi told The Irrawaddy they managed to defeat the whole regime unit, seizing over 20 weapons and capturing five regime troops.
Colonel Hpone Naing of the KA said, “Over 30 junta troops were killed in the fighting and some fled and escaped.”
Regime units based in Loikaw used artillery in a failed effort to help the junta ground troops.
A resistance video shows five detained soldiers saying they were forced to march to Loikaw after being drafted by the regime under the forced conscription law that was activated in February.
Another video released by Loikaw Local People’s Defense Force (LLPDF), which was involved in fighting the regime unit, shows resistance members removing the bodies of several dead regime troops from a drain.
The KNDF said clashes continued outside Loikaw town as regime units attempt to raid resistance-held areas.
On Wednesday afternoon, a regime base in Pekon town in southern Shan State shelled Kone Paw Village in the east of the town, killing six villagers including a 1-month-old infant and injuring three others, the KNDF said.
Regime fighter jets bombed the same village on Nov. 8, killing two villagers.
Karenni resistance groups have seized some seven towns in Karenni State since the military coup in 2021.
Combined resistance groups seized many parts of Loikaw including the headquarters of the State Police Force after launching a major offensive dubbed Operation 1111 in November last year, but were later forced to retreat from the capital due to heavy regime counterattacks.
