Aid workers told DVB that fighting between the regime’s Aung Zeya column and resistance forces, led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), broke out at Myapataing village in Kawkareik Township of eastern Karen State on Tuesday. Kawkareik is located 101 miles (162 km) southeast of the state capital Hpa-An.
“Thousands of residents remain trapped inside Kawkareik town by regime troops,” a Kawkareik resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The regime’s blockade of trading routes, including along the Gyaing River, has driven up commodity prices in eastern Karen State, the resident added.
Sources told DVB that the regime has mobilized troops from the Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 545 and 546, based in Kawkareik’s Kyondoe town, to Kawkareik and along the road between Hpa-An and the Gyaing Bridge. Kyondoe is located 15-40 miles (24-64 km) west of Kawkareik and Myawaddy, and 40 miles (64 km) east of Hpa-An.
Regime artillery attacks on villages along the Kyondoe-Kawkareik stretch of the Asia Highway, which connects Myanmar to Thailand, from regime outposts in Kyondoe were reported on June 5. A frontline source told DVB that the artillery attacks were meant to clear resistance forces who were blocking Kyondoe and cutting off the regime’s logistics route into Kawkareik. No casualties have been reported.
Local media reported that KNLA-led resistance forces launched an offensive on regime outposts in Kawkareik and Kyondoe in April. Regime air and artillery attacks have killed at least 20 civilians, injured over 30 and displaced thousands of residents since April.
KNLA Commander Saw Dar Baw told the media on April 12 that the Aung Zeya column initially had 1,200 troops, citing confessions from those detained. He claimed that the KNLA has killed over 500 regime troops, including four battalion commanders and a chief strategist. The KNLA has detained 95 regime troops as prisoners of war, he added.
Kawkareik District, also known as Dooplaya District, is located in the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 6 territory.
