Border security stepped up as Myanmar fighting rages

Border security stepped up as Myanmar fighting rages

Rebels use drones to attack stranded government soldiers; a Myanmar bullet strikes a Thai home.

Border security stepped up as Myanmar fighting rages
A Thai man greets a child from Myanmar who is battling its way to safety on Saturday in the Mae Sot region of Tak province. As of Saturday evening, about 1,200 civilians were said to have crossed the border. ( Photo: Royal Thai Army )

Along the Thai-Myanmar border, the Thai army and its allies are making more efforts to assist Myanmar nationals seeking humanitarian help while preventing violence from entering Thailand.

More than 1,000 civilians were forced to flee as a result of fighting that raged around Myawaddy on the border between Mae Sot and Tak state on Saturday as rebels battled to remove junta troops stationed at the Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge.

An estimated 200 coup men who had retreated from a planned rebel assault on military posts since April 5 were targeted by opposition forces, according to a blog from the Thai journalist NBT on the social media platform X.

In light of the escalating issue, Thai military troops with whom border security is in contact are closely working with police and cocaine officials to improve power over bridges between Mae Sot and Myanmar.

The need for greater border control and border-crosser control has been highlighted by the intensified fighting, which has prompted citizens in Myanmar to seek protection by entering Tak, according to authorities.

Thai people have begun to be impacted by squabbling between junta pushes and Karen insurgents, as demonstrated by a stray bullet that petered a home. While the glass sustained harm, no one in the home was harmed.

A house in Tak province, close to the Myanmar boundary, was struck by a stray bullet on Saturday.

More than 1,200 people from Myawaddy had entered Thailand after the Myanmar military earlier attacked Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA ) with MiG-29 jet fighters and helicopter gunships, according to Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand with Human Rights Watch Asia.

The advocate claimed that the government is carefully monitoring the situation in Myanmar and shared content with Foreign Affairs Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukura and Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

They asserted that the government may proceed to provide humanitarian aid to people living along the border.

We are ready to defend our edges and the health of our people, Mr. Srettha said in a blog on X.

On April 11, KNLA soldiers and opposition fighters took control of Myawaddy, striking a severe punch to a well-equipped war that is struggling to manage and is now facing a crucial test of its credibility on the battlefield.

The junta’s coup has been hampered by American sanctions, with the city serving as a major source of tax revenue and the gateway to more than 35 billion ringgit of border trade annually. The capture of Myawaddy and its surrounding army outposts is a significant setback.

Padoh Saw Taw Nee, a spokesman for the Karen National Union (KNU), confirmed that the party was fighting the coup in Myawaddy but declined to provide further information.

A Thai army unit with a presence on the frontier said clashes were taking place with a pressure attacking the junta men under the bridge early on Saturday night.

“Currently in the middle of battle, no loses known, ” the Rajamnu Special Task Force posted on Twitter.

Pittayakorn Petcharat, the Mae Sot officers captain, said the battle was “intensifying”.

“Around 2,000” persons had crossed the border, AFP quoted him as saying, with local officials searching them for arms.

“We have given them food and moved them to the safer place, ” he added.

During fighting on the Myanmar side of the border between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA ) and regime troops on Saturday, a Thai soldier takes cover near the second Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Tak. ( Photo: Reuters )