Karen rebel groups claim Myanmar junta forces suffered heavy losses and were driven from villages over seven days in Kawkareik Township, Karen State.
Around 150 regime troops raided several villages near the town of Kyondoe and approximately 90 of them were killed and 50 injured while three resistance fighters had died, the Lion Battalion Commando, which took part in the fighting, said on Thursday.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The two armed wings of the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karen National Liberation Army and Karen National Defense Organization, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and various resistance groups attacked the regime forces since January 20.
Junta forces fired more than 200 shells and MI-35 helicopters and fighter jets conducted more than 10 airstrikes, according to the Lion Battalion.
Thousands of residents have fled Kann Ni, Mi Galon, Nyaung Yeik Thar and Kaw Bein villages and numerous houses were destroyed.
On Monday, the Payathonzu Guerrilla Force raided and burned down the junta-run general administration department and other offices in the town of Payathonzu on the Thai border in Kyainseikgyi Township, Karen State.
On Tuesday, the Lion Battalion said it ambushed junta reinforcements heading from Kyainseikgyi to Payathonzu.
Karen rebels have said they would escalate attacks this month in Karen and Mon states and Tanintharyi and Bago regions.
The KNU’s spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee last week told The Irrawaddy that resistance forces would expand their attacks beyond the group’s territory.
Other ethnic minority groups and Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government also vowed in their New Year’s messages to uproot the regime during 2023.
