The Karen National Union (KNU) stated that dual airstrikes carried out on Saturday by the Myanmar Air Force on its base in Karen State’s Hpapun Township, opposite Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province, were aimed at disrupting its cross-border supply route used to procure goods from Thailand.
Thai media reported that there were no casualties but that the airstrikes triggered explosions powerful enough to shatter windows and damage buildings on the Thai side of the border in Mae Sariang’s Mae Sam Laep village.
Hpapun, located 110 miles (177 km) north of the Karen State capital Hpa-An, was seized by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) from regime forces in March 2024.
The KNU told DVB that a regime counteroffensive was launched with nearly 2,000 troops on May 5.
A KNU statement on Nov. 1 claimed that the regime in Naypyidaw had sent a formal letter to Thailand on Aug. 31 labeling it an “unlawful association,” warning the authorities and businesses against trading with the KNU.
The regime Ministry of Home Affairs called the KNU—one of the country’s oldest ethnic armed groups—a “terrorist organization” and claimed that its “intentions and actions endanger the rule of law, stability and the public’s peace and prosperity” in a statement on Aug. 28, 2025.
The regime airstrikes on the KNU base on Oct. 31 came one day after the Thai Army closed all unofficial border crossings from Myawaddy Township into Mae Sot, Tak Province, for one week due to security reasons.
Fighting between the KNLA and regime forces in southern Myawaddy’s Minletpan village intensified in early October, which has caused the conflict to spread closer to the Thai border.
Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of Hpa-An and across the border from Mae Sot.
A resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the border closure has slowed market activity in Myawaddy since most trade comes from Thailand.
The regime immediately launched a counteroffensive to regain Minletpan, which was seized by the KNLA from the pro-regime Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) on Nov. 21, 2025.
