A frontline source in Myawaddy Township of Karen State told DVB that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) seized a regime outpost located near the Myanmar-Thailand border, across from Mae Ramat District of Tak Province, which led to the displacement of 247 civilians on Saturday. No casualties were reported.
The Royal Thai Army told media that 247 Myawaddy residents fled their homes in Karen State across the border into Tak Province of Thailand, where they have taken refuge in Mae Ramat District. Myawaddy is located 80 miles (128 km) east of the state capital Hpa-An.
The Karen National Union (KNU) accused the regime of targeting civilians with air and artillery strikes in a statement on Saturday. It also urged caution to the media about disclosing the location of where civilians are sheltering from attacks, warning of more retaliatory airstrikes.
A 14-day pause in fighting between the KNLA and the regime took place after Naypyidaw announced a 20-day ceasefire, starting on April 2. But fighting over the outpost in Myawaddy resumed on April 16. The anonymous source on the frontline told DVB that 20 regime troops fled the outpost on April 18 before it fell to the KNLA.
In Kawkareik Township, residents told DVB that at least 16 civilians were killed and over 30 were injured by air and artillery strikes during fighting near Kyondoe town April 15-17. “We’re trapped inside the town,” a Kyondoe resident told DVB on condition of anonymity. Kyondoe is located 40 miles (64 km) west of Myawaddy and 40 miles (64 km) east of Hpa-An.
The regime sent reinforcements in six cargo trucks to the Aung Zeya column stationed in Kyondoe from Hpa-An on April 15, residents told DVB. The regime launched the Aung Zeya counteroffensive in April 2024 after the KNLA seized a regime outpost in Myawaddy for 12 days.
At least six people were killed by an airstrike on a monastery in Kawkareik’s Kamni village on April 15. At least three other civilians were killed the same day by airstrikes on two other villages in Kawkareik, residents told DVB.
At least 30 regime troops were taken as prisoners of war, a source close to the KNLA told DVB on condition of anonymity. Kawkareik is located 26 miles (42 km) west of Myawaddy and 57 miles (92 km) east of Hpa-An.
KNLA Commander Saw Dar Baw told the media on April 12 that the Aung Zeya column initially had 1,200 troops, citing confessions from detained regime troops. He claimed that the KNLA has killed over 500 of them, including four battalion commanders and a chief strategist, and detained 95 as prisoners of war.
The KNU told DVB that KNLA-led resistance forces seized a regime outpost in Hlaingbwe Township of Karen State—one mile from the Myanmar-Thailand border—on March 25 after four days of fighting.
It also captured the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 31 at Lel Paw Hel village, also known as Pulutu, in Hlaingbwe on March 13 after launching an offensive on Feb. 27. Hlaingbwe is located 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Hpa-An and 101 miles (162 km) northwest of Myawaddy.
DVB has documented 153 air and artillery strikes carried out by the regime that have killed 151 people since the ceasefire began on April 2. Since the earthquake on March 28, it has carried out 216 attacks that have killed 151 people.
