Almost 50 junta soldiers fled across the Moei River from Karen State to Thailand’s Tak province on Tuesday following an attack by joint resistance forces on another junta base near the border.
The Karen National Union (KNU) said 48 junta troops fled to Thailand from Karen State on Tuesday following at attack on their base near Mae Tha Raw Hta village in Karen State’s Kyaikdon Township.
The KNU’s Colonel Saw Nal Dar Htoo told The Irrawaddy that 36 troops from the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 558, including its commander, and 12 soldiers from its Light Infantry Battalion 557 fled to Thailand with their weapons.
A resident of Tak province’s Paikhalan village told The Irrawaddy that “junta’s soldiers ran across the Moei River and were detained by the Thai army in our village yesterday.”
Troops from the Royal Thai Army also confiscated the weapons of the fleeing junta soldiers, residents of the village in Tak province’s Umphang district said.
The junta troops fled their base near Mae Tha Raw Hta village after being attacked by soldiers from the Karen National Union’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, and People’s Defense Forces. “The joint resistance forces launched an offensive [on the base] five days ago,” a source explained.
The junta base near Mae Tha Raw Hta village is located in Karen’s State’s Kyaikdon township about five kilometers from the border with Thailand. It was seized by resistance forces on Tuesday. It was surrounded by troops from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, and allies, and allies before it was seized.
The bodies of five junta solders, as well as arms and ammunition, were found at the base, Colonel Saw Nal Dar Htoo said.
Mae Tha Raw Hta village is about one kilometer from the junta base, which is named after the village. Fighting at the base sparked an exodus from the village. Residents fled to Thailand or nearby forests for safety.
One resident of the Thai village Paikhalan said two explosions were heard from the Myanmar side of the border on Tuesday evening.
Casualty numbers from the clashes have not been reported.
Resistance forces have intensified attacks on military targets in Karen State since the first week of this month.
On March 8, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allies seized the headquarters of the junta’s Infantry Battalion 355 and a police station in Thingannyinaung village on the Asia Highway near the Thai border. The village is in the Karen State’s Myawaddy Township.
Following the loss of their base in Thingannyinaung, junta troops bombed the village, forcing almost 7,000 residents to flee. Many raced across the Moei River into Thailand. More than 80 percent of the homes in the village were destroyed by the junta’s shelling.
On Wednesday, the KNU said it and its allies seized another junta base in Thingannyinaung village, the base of Infantry Battalion 356, on March 15 and that they seized arms and ammunition.
The KNU said 11 junta soldiers and one resistance fighter were killed and five resistance troops were injured during the clash. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm the numbers.
On the evening of March 11, the KNLA and allies, including Cobra Column, attacked a junta’s base at Pha Luu Village, near the Thai border in southern Myawaddy Township.
Pha Luu, which lies on the bank of the Moei River, has more than 1,000 households. About 1,000 of its residents fled to Thailand.
On March 14, the allied resistance forces seized a strategic hilltop base near Kyaikdon town after a one-day attack, the KNU said on Wednesday. It said that 66 junta troops, including 12 senior officers, surrendered, 11 were killed and four were injured. Two resistance fighters were killed and one was injured in the battle, the KNU said, adding that it seized weapons from the base.