Almost 20 junta soldiers including two captains have been killed and 34 others wounded while attempting to recapture a strategic hilltop base seized last month by resistance fighters near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to the Karen National Union (KNU).
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), an armed wing of the KNU, and resistance allies attacked the junta’s Lat Khat Taung hill camp in Myawaddy township, Karen State on July 21 and seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition and communication devices.
Junta troops of Light Infantry Division 44 have responded by calling up reinforcements to launch daily offensives to retake the hill camp.
Ten intense clashes have erupted so far between junta forces and the KNLA and allied resistance groups defending the hilltop fortress.
The Cobra Column, a KNLA ally that was involved in seizing the hill camp, said on Monday that junta troops had suffered heavy casualties but been unable even to get close to the foot of the hill.
Reports on the ground indicate that 17 junta soldiers including two captains have been killed and 34 wounded, the KNU said. One KNLA member was killed and eight resistance fighters injured during the battles.
The clashes also killed one civilian and wounded another, while five religious building were damaged due to exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Two junta soldiers also defected to the resistance during the battle.
On August 8, Lance Corporal Zaw Myo Khaing, 36, and Private Aung Myo Zaw, 23, of Light Infantry Division 44 defected to the Cobra Column.
Cobra Column commander Bo Da Baw rewarded each soldier with 50,000 baht for defecting with weapons, including a 60mm mortar
and an MA-2 rifle and magazines.
