Anti-regime resistance groups have captured the Myanmar military’s Kann Parr Ni base, a defensive position set up at the entrance to pro-regime militia-controlled territory in southern Kale Township, Sagaing Region, according to the Chin Defense Force (Kalay-Kabaw-Gangaw), which coordinated the attack.
Situated along the Kale-Gangaw Road on the southern bank of the Manipur River, the military base—manned by regime forces and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia groups—serves as a strategic gateway connecting southern Kale Township in Sagaing Region to northern Gangaw Township in Magwe Region.
The area is controlled by Pyu Saw Htee group under the direction of former Lieutenant Colonel “Bullet” Hla Swe, a former lawmaker of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
The militia groups are notorious for violence against civilians, including shelling and burning villages whose residents oppose military rule. Early last year, militia members burned two detained anti-regime resistance members alive in public in the pro-military village of Myauk Khin Yan in Gangaw Township.
A spokesman for the Chin Defense Force (CDF) (Kalay-Kabaw-Gangaw) told The Irrawaddy on Friday that its ground troops found the bodies of many dead regime forces after seizing the Kann Parr Ni base, which has a heliport.
Resistance forces also seized several weapons and some ammunition.
“The base is vital to the regime, as it is the main defensive position for several pro-military villages near the border between Kale and Gangaw townships,” the spokesman said.
On Thursday, Bullet Hla Swe confirmed the fall of the Kann Parr Ni base via his Facebook page, stating it had been the strongest defensive position between Kale and Gangaw. He revealed that around 70 of his militia fighters along with a Myanmar army major were stationed at the base when it came under attack by People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs).
He criticized the major for fleeing at the onset of the PDF attack despite having support from warplanes, which conducted airstrikes against the resistance forces.
Additional clashes were reported Friday as the joint resistance force continued to engage junta reinforcements including Pyu Saw Htee militia members, who were preventing the resistance groups from penetrating further into their territory.
Meanwhile, junta warplanes conducted airstrikes at the clash site and against nearby civilian villages, the CDF (Kalay-Kabaw-Gangaw) spokesman told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
He said Myanmar military warplanes have been bombing villages in southern Kale Township since Feb. 7, while anti-regime resistance groups were planning the operation against the junta’s Kann Parr Ni base.
Local media reported that the airstrikes killed several civilians including children and forced over 5,000 people from 10 villages to flee their homes.
A resident of Kale told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “Junta warplanes are constantly circling and bombing nearby villages. I, along with all the other residents, am fleeing the airstrikes now. The warplanes are heavily bombing in an attempt to retake the base captured by the resistance forces.”
In November 2023, resistance groups briefly seized the base before it was retaken by the junta.
