March 13, 2024.
Frontline sources reported that the coup Military Council intensified air attacks and deployed urgent reinforcements in Myawaddy, a Thailand-Myanmar border town that amidst escalation hostilities between junta forces and the resistance.
Since March 7, intense clashes have been going on between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)-led joint resistance forces and Junta troops, in both Myawaddy and the adjacent Thinganyinaung area. During the Battle of Thinganyinaung, resistance forces led by the KNLA seized control of the headquarters of the Junta’s 355th Light Infantry Battalion and the local police station.
Currently the resistance forces maintain the momentum of their offensive, targeting the Myawaddy-based 357th Light Infantry Battalion and the Tactical Command Base, while the Junta responds with desperation, resorting to heavy air raids.
To prevent the loss of Myawaddy, the Junta has been withdrawing troops from the battalions under the 44th Division in Kyaikto Township and the 22nd Division in Hpa-An Township, and consistently dispatching them as reinforcements to Myawaddy by air.
On March 11, the resistance forces chalked up another gain in the Battle of Thinganyinaung, when they gained control of the Junta’s Hpalu military camp, located just 8 miles south of Myawaddy.
In the course of the camp’s capture, certain Junta troops surrendered to the resistance, while others fled across the border into Thailand, frontline sources said.
Myawaddy, located on the Thailand-Myanmar border, is pivotal for border trade, prompting the Junta to fiercely resist using airstrikes and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to prevent losing control of the town.
News – (Than Lwin Times)
Photo – EPA
