Myanmar’s military regime has dispatched over 1,000 troops to recapture the major trade hub of Myawaddy on the Thai border, signaling more fighting ahead, according to Karen resistance forces.
Myawaddy, the biggest border trade post with Thailand, was liberated on April 10 when the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) seized the last remaining junta base after Battalion 275 troops fled.
Following the town’s capture, nearly 500 junta troops from the 55th Infantry Division based in the Karen State capital of Hpa-an were redeployed to Kawkareik, located just 26 miles west of Myawaddy. The two towns are separated by the Dawna Mountain Range.
Resistance forces withdrew from Kawkareik over a week ago as the column of 30 infantry division vehicles was joined by other junta reinforcements ahead of an expected counteroffensive to retake Myawaddy.
Four resistance members were killed while intercepting the troops, according to the Albino Tiger Company-1, which was involved in an attack.
Ambush attacks by joint resistance forces have reportedly halted the advance of junta troops at the base of the Dawna range.
“They are coming from all sides. There may be a thousand troops,” one resistance member told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
He said junta troops are using all three routes through the Dawna mountains to get to Myawaddy – the Asia Highway, the old road and a jungle route.
Myawaddy saw US$ 1 billion in trade last year.
The KNLA’s Karen National Union (KNU) political wing warned on April 18 that the junta had launched a national-level counteroffensive dubbed Operation Aung Zeya to recapture Myawaddy. The KNU said joint resistance forces had intercepted and killed over 100 junta soldiers taking part in the operation.
On Sunday, the junta lost an armored vehicle, two military vehicles and a large cache of ammunition in a clash with Karen forces on the Kawkeraik side of the Dawna range.
“Now, both sides are going head to head near the Dawna mountains,” said Colonel Saw Nal Dar Htoo, KNU Brigade 6’s strategy commander.
The KNU said six junta soldiers including a captain were killed in a clash on Sunday, when resistance forces also captured an armored vehicle, two army vans with machine gun attachments and ammunition.
A local military analyst doubts whether the junta troops will make it to Myawaddy.
“It has now been more than a week [since they launched efforts to reach Myawaddy] but they still can’t make progress amid losses. I am wondering if they can achieve their mission.”
Even if they did manage to get over the mountains, the junta troops would face a series of ambushes on their way to Myawaddy, he added.
Sunday’s ambush occurred after the KNLA and allies attacked the remaining Battalion 275 troops sheltering at the Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Myawaddy on Friday and Saturday.
The junta retaliated with airstrikes that killed at least seven civilians and forced nearly 3,000 people to flee over the border into Thailand.
On Monday, the KNU said clashes near the bridge had killed over 30 junta troops and wounded another 30, including 44th Division commander, Colonel Soe Min Thant.
No ground fighting has been reported since Sunday as the joint forces retreated from the town.
