Sources on the frontline in Karen State told DVB that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and its allied resistance forces withdrew from Nohphoe and Hteemuhta villages during fighting against pro-regime forces in Myawaddy Township on Friday. Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An.
“We withdrew from the villages and surrounded them from the outside,” a KNLA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. He added that the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 275 received support from the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF). Neither side reported casualties.
Local media reported that the KNLA withdrawal was only “temporary” to flee airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force. Fighting between the KNLA and regime forces was reported in Kawkareik and Kyondoe townships, 27-41 miles (43-66 km) west of Myawaddy, on Sept. 5.
Nohphoe and Hteemuhta villages are located in the Thingan Nyinaung village-tract, along the Kawkareik-Myawaddy stretch of the Asia Highway. A KNLA source told DVB that resistance forces killed over 70 regime troops and wounded 60 other military personnel during two days of fighting with the regime’s Aung Zeya column there on Aug. 9 and 15.
KNLA-led resistance forces reportedly blocked the regime from sending resupply shipments to its Wawlay outpost since Aug. 20. Wawlay is one of the two remaining regime outposts on the Myanmar-Thailand border in Myawaddy.
The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP – Myanmar) stated on June 12 that the Karen National Union (KNU) have led resistance forces to seize at least 200 regime outposts across its territories since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
The regime launched a counteroffensive against the KNLA after it seized control of the vital Myanmar-Thailand border town for 12 days in April 2024.
