Myanmar military junta reinforcements heading for Karen State’s Myawaddy town advanced into the Dawna Mountain Range on Sunday despite ambushes by Karen and allied resistance forces, according to a resistance group involved.
As part of the military regime’s national-level Operation Aung Zeya, a force comprising nearly 1,000 junta troops left Kawkareik on April 11 bound for Myawaddy. Their mission is to reinforce the troops remaining there since the defeat by Karen forces of Infantry Battalion 275, which had been defending the town. Kawkareik is located just 42 km west of Myawaddy but the two towns are separated by the Dawna Mountain Range.
The regime column was stuck between Kawkareik and the foothills of the Dawna range for over two weeks due to attacks by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs).
However, on Sunday, junta troops of the Aung Zeya column advanced into the Dawna mountains, passing Tadanku and Ywar Thit Kone villages between the mountains and Kawkareik.
“The junta troops are entering the Dawna mountains. That’s certain. However, they haven’t passed the Taw Naw waterfall yet,” said Major Kyaw Hein, deputy platoon commander of the Albino Tiger, a PDF involved in fighting in the area.
The Taw Naw waterfall is situated in the Dawna range.
A local military analyst said the regime’s reinforcement column was crucial to junta troops in Myawaddy and nearby areas.
“The reinforcement is their only support. If the column can’t pass through the Dawna mountains, the troops down in Myawaddy and other areas will be totally cut off,” he said.
He added that even if the reinforcements manage to get through the mountains, it would still be quite challenging for them to get to Myawaddy, as the area on that side of the range between the foothills and Myawaddy is under the KNLA’s control and riddled with Karen and resistance forces.
Currently, Myawaddy is back under control of the regime and its allied Karen Border Guard Force.
Despite the KNLA’s seizure of Myawaddy on the Thai border after capturing the base of Battalion 275 on April 11, regime troops retook the town on April 23.
Karen National Union (KNU) spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee told The Irrawaddy that KNLA troops and their allies temporarily withdrew from Myawaddy “to avoid falling into a trap at this critical time.”
Since the junta’s return to Myawaddy, regime soldiers have been seen patrolling the town since Friday, a witness told The Irrawaddy.
Regime troops re-entered the town at 9 a.m. Thursday and all signs are that the regime is back in control.
“I saw about 20 military junta soldiers. They walked around the town leisurely. I saw the badges on their uniforms,” a witness in Myawaddy told The Irrawaddy.
No fighting in the town has been reported since the junta troops’ return.
On the night of April 24, however, fighting broke out between junta troops and joint resistance forces of the KNLA and PDFs near Swal Taw Kone Hill in Lay Kay Kaw, 12.8 km from Myawaddy.
A junta Y-12 fighter jet flew near Lay Kay Kaw on Thursday night at around 11 p.m. and dropped over 40 bombs in the area, said a source from a nearby internally displaced persons camp.
“The military junta bombed [the area]. We heard the explosions from Mae Sot. Sometimes, our doors shook due to the explosions,” a resident of Mae Sot, Thailand said.
