An ethnic Karenni resistance group targeted military junta boss Min Aung Hlaing while he was visiting Loikaw, the capital of Karenni (Kayah) State, on Wednesday.
Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) deputy commander Marwi told The Irrawaddy on Thursday the group’s forces shelled two locations—the Loikaw Regional Operations Command (ROC) and the Loikaw State Hall—after being tipped off that Min Aung Hlaing was scheduled to visit both places. The junta boss and his entourage escaped the attacks and urgently left the capital after the bombardment, Marwi said.
“We attacked the places where it was believed Min Aung Hlaing was visiting,” Marwi said.
Junta media later confirmed that he visited both locations during the visit.
Another KNDF source said the group targeted the regime boss with five artillery rounds.
Citing residents who witnessed the attacks, the KNDF commander said some shells hit the ROC, injuring some people with links to the military headquarters and damaging some vehicles there.
The Irrawaddy was unable to independently verify the KNDF’s claims about the regime casualties and damages.
A resident close to the regime’s administration in Karenni State told The Irrawaddy that bombs hit Loikaw while the junta boss and his regime group were preparing to leave in two choppers at Loikaw Airport.
Junta fighter jets responded to the resistance attacks by bombarding areas around Loikaw on Thursday.
Late Wednesday night, the Myanmar military’s website reported that Min Aung Hlaing, accompanied by the chiefs of the Air Force and Navy as well as union-level regime ministers, met with regional military officials at the Loikaw ROC and inspected their measures to ensure security and stability in the region.
The regime chief and his group also met with junta-appointed Karenni administration officials and some residents at the Loikaw State Hall, where he condemned the KNDF and People’s Defense Force as terrorist groups who were attempting to destabilize and destroy the state, according to the report on the regime’s website.
However, the mouthpiece didn’t mention the KNDF attack targeting the junta boss.
The KNDF and several allied resistance groups launched Operation 1111 in November last year, seizing a large part of Loikaw including the state’s Police Department headquarters.
Later, the resistance groups were forced to retreat from the capital after the regime launched a major military operation against them.
The KNDF and allied resistance groups have taken control of almost the whole of Karenni State, seizing around seven towns since the military coup in February 2021.
Mine Saw Lwin contributed reporting.
