Resistance groups based in Karen State claimed to have killed six regime combatants including a battalion commander during an intense clash in Kawkareik Township on Tuesday.
A combined resistance force including drone units and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) clashed with a junta unit from Military Division 44 near Taton Kuu village.
The junta troops were advancing into territory controlled by KNLA Brigade 6 when the fighting erupted.
Resistance sources told The Irrawaddy that KNLA snipers managed to kill colonel Nyein Chan Ko Ko, commander of Light Infantry Battalion 207, with a shot to the head during the clash.
The victim, who graduated from the Defense Service Academy 47th intake, was recently promoted as a battalion commander, according to the sources.
The resistance force also used makeshift remote-controlled planes to bomb regime troops during the clash.
Resistance drone units said eight regime forces were wounded in the clash. Two resistance fighters also suffered injuries.
After sustaining losses, the junta used aircraft to conduct five strikes on the area.
Videos released by the resistance groups show an MI 35 helicopter gunship hovering and opening fire at the clash site.
Regime ground troops retreated to Kawkareik town after the battle, according to resistance groups.
The KNLA is the armed wing of the country’s oldest ethnic revolutionary group, the Karen National Union (KNU).
Since the February 2021 coup, the KNU has provided military training to thousands of anti-regime activists while sheltering thousands more, including striking government staff who fled under threat of arrest by the junta.
The ethnic group has also stepped up attacks on regime targets beyond Karen State in Mon State and Tanintharyi and Bago regions, as well as the regime’s administrative capital of Naypyitaw. The KNU is cooperating with People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), the armed wing of the parallel civilian National Unity Government.
