Myanmar military loses border town in another big defeat

The military government that seized power in Myanmar three years ago has experienced yet another significant battle, this day on the eastern border with Thailand.

Troops had suffered weeks of problems by cultural Karen rebels, allied with another anti- revolution forces.

Hunderts of soldiers have today agreed to surrender in the crucial border city of Myawaddy.

Most of Myanmar’s inland commerce with Thailand passes through Myawaddy.

On Friday, the Karen National Union announced that it had accepted the surrender of a battalion based in the town of Thanganyinaung, about 10km ( 6.2 miles ) west of Myawaddy.

It posted a picture of its cheery fighters displaying a sizable arsenal of weapons.

The Karen causes have been negotiating with the last remaining battalion inside Myawaddy over the weekend, which appears to have agreed to surrender.

The military coup suffered a significant loss from this, which has also been forced to flee significant locations along the Chinese border in Shan State and Rakhine State, both close to Bangladesh’s borders, in recent months.

In an effort to make up for the lost, the government has previously forced a large number of soldiers to enlist in recruitment. Many of them have already been killed, surrendered, or defected to the opposition.

Since Myanmar’s democracy in 1948, the Karen National Union has been fighting for the cultural Karen people’s right to self-government.

But, it fell victim to a number of federal troops in the 1990s, and it had become a part of a nationwide ceasefire after 2015.

The revolution in 2021 changed that, with the KNU revealing that the peace had been invalidated by the destroy of the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Karen State was a popular destination for dissenters fleeing the terrible military repression of protests following the coup because it is fairly near to Yangon, Myanmar’s largest area, and offers the best way to the Thai borders.

The KNU has assisted in the training of numerous charity soldiers from the places, who have since launched attacks on military installations.

The KNU has also been working to coordinate its operations with those of other significant rebel organizations, including the Kachin Independence Army and the North of Karen State’s Karenni Nationalities Defence Force.

A strong military based on the Thai boundary, funded by scams and which had been supporting the military coup, just switched sides in Karen State in favor of the opposition.

The government has been unable to strengthen its positions in Karen State and lost control of the major routes to the frontier, as well as being overstretched by fighting in so many other regions of Myanmar.

The dictatorship has responded to these losses by conducting additional airstrikes in the areas that the rebels then control.

Thousands of non-combatants have now lost their homes in Karen as a result of the issue, and many more are reportedly moving towards the Thai border in anticipation of further airstrikes in the coming days.