Fighting has intensified in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah (Karenni) State, as anti-regime Karenni troops return to attack junta troops after being forced out of some wards.
Karenni forces were forced to withdraw from two wards—Dawh Uku and Narnat Taw—near Loikaw University after they were outnumbered and outgunned by the regime in late June. Combined forces of the Karenni Army (KA) and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) have launched counterattacks against junta positions in downtown Loikaw.
KNDF information officer Saw Thar L Soe said: “Fighting is still taking place in Loikaw. We are attacking their positions.”
Fighting took place near Mong Lone Ward on Friday. The junta’s Infantry Battalion 54 shelled the area following the fighting, according to residents.
The two sides also clashed in Nan Baw Wan ward on Thursday. Three civilians were killed when an artillery shell fired by junta troops hit the market in Nan Baw Wan, said a resident. At least one of the victims was a child, he confirmed.
“Some people were injured. People fled for their lives, and we don’t know who else was killed,” he said.
Karenni resistance groups have told Loikaw residents to stay away from junta positions as fighting continues in Loikaw.
There have been few hostilities since November last year in Loikaw after Karenni groups said they had seized 80 percent of the Karenni State capital. Over 500 junta reinforcements from Hsihseng in Shan State’s Pa-O Self-Administered Zone entered Loikaw in May. They coordinated with around 1,500 fellow troops that remained in the town to strike back at Karenni forces.
Colonel Phone Naing of the Karenni forces said: “We only temporarily withdrew as we are short of bullets. We are still deployed in other places.”
Anti-regime Karenni forces launched Operation 1111 in November last year, seizing control of at least 12 junta bases, Loikaw police station, department offices and Loikaw University, where the regime had taken a stand.
Besides the regional operations command and Infantry Battalion 54, junta troops are still deployed at the University of Computer Studies, Loikaw Prison and Loikaw Technological University.
Many residents returned to urban wards in Loikaw town in May after four months of relative stability, but they have since fled again following the fresh fighting.
One resident said: “We have had to flee again. We could bring nothing. Residents returned home because they could not endure more [of the conditions] in other areas. Things have not yet settled down, and we have had to flee again.”
In April, the regime told Loikaw residents to return. It has brought back education, health and municipal staff to wards it still controls, and has also resumed supplying electricity and internet access. It has also re-opened markets and basic education schools.
Resistance forces said the regime attacked Dawh Uku and Narnat Taw wards because it wants to re-open Loikaw University.
One resistance fighter said: “Junta media keep reporting they have re-installed the administration, and have been urging residents to return to Loikaw. As they have opened basic education schools, they will try to open the university.”
Loikaw has a population of 120,000 people. Some 80 percent of the population fled the town following the launch of Operation 1111.
