Myanmar’s regime is taking advantage of flooding to reinforce trapped troops and regain territory in Kayah (Karenni) State, according to anti-regime groups.
Typhoon Yagi caused heavy floods in Loikaw, Demoso, Hpruso and Pekon townships since mid-September.
A Loikaw resident said: “Junta troops first went to Pankan from Loikaw, then to Ngwe Taung and Demoso. They have been carrying out raids in Demoso as they attempt to deliver food to junta bases.”
Demoso has Infantry Battalion 102 and Light Infantry Battalion 427 and troops are also deployed at the town’s police station. Anti-regime groups have cut off supply routes.
A People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighter said junta troops used the Loikaw-Demoso highway and the embankment of Ngwe Taung Dam that were not flooded. Previously, Karenni anti-regime groups could ambush junta troops, inflicting heavy casualties but the flooding has prevented further attacks.
“The routes are flooded, so we are struggling to intercept them,” he said.
There have still been clashes with both sides suffering casualties, he added.
During fighting outside Loikaw, the state capital, in early September, junta soldiers were captured and weapons seized, said a Loikaw PDF member.
The regime retook the whole of Loikaw, where a regional operations command is based, in June after launching a counteroffensive with more than 2,000 troops. It has since been trying to retake the Loikaw-Demoso road, resulting in clashes with anti-regime forces.
The regime has heavily fortified Loikaw from where it dispatches troops to retake territory in the state that borders the capital, Naypyitaw.
A regional operations command, three infantry battalions and one artillery unit are based in Loikaw. Troops from 10 defeated Rakhine State battalions, regrouped personnel from the 55th and 66th Light Infantry divisions, the pro-junta Pa-O National Organization, conscripts and other militias are also in Loikaw.
A Karenni revolutionary source said the regime is making use of the floods to retake the Loikaw-Demoso-Hpruso road.
“Battalions 428 and 531 are at the entrance to Hpruso and a military training school is near. The regime is trying to reinforce them with troops and food,” he said.
Much of Karenni State remains flooded as the regime keeps releasing water from the Moebye Dam.
Anti-regime groups say they have been helping flood victims, evacuating homes and supplying food and medicines.
Zin Yaw, a captain who defected following the 2021 coup, said: “The regime only made rescue and relief efforts for show. Though [junta chief] Min Aung Hlaing visited Loikaw, there was no rescue and relief operation. As floods also hit areas controlled by resistance groups, they rescue and relocate people. The regime is taking advantage of this and conducting military operations.”
The regime is conducting raids alongside Pa-O militias from Pinlaung, resulting in clashes in Pekon on the Shan State border. Pinlaung has also been flooded.
The Karenni Army and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force have not replied to The Irrawaddy’s requests for a comment.
Min Aung Hlaing visited Loikaw and Hsihseng in southern Shan State on September 4 and called for improved security to ensure a more accurate population census ahead of his proposed general election next year.
