Myanmar Spring Chronicle – March 25 Scenes
MoeMaKa, March 26 2023
Battle broke out again in Kyondoe, Myawaddy Township
The next round of fighting in Kyondoe Township, where the fighting took place in the last week of January, has occurred again almost 2 months later. This time, it did not happen in some villages in Kyondoe Township, but it was an attack on the No. 546 military council battalion, which is connected to Kyondoe Township. Clashes are also taking place in places like Myawaddy Trade Zone, Thingannyinaung, and Mekanei next to the Myawaddy-Kawkareik highway, and there are reports that a curfew has been issued in Myawaddy town and the Thai-Myanmar border bridge has been temporarily closed. The fighting broke out simultaneously in places like the trade zone at the exit of Myawaddy, Mekanei, Thingannyinaung and Kyondoe town on the Kawkareik-Hpa-An highway, and it was said that the KNU joint forces conducted the operation.
The organizations involved in the current battle are the armed groups of the newly formed Kawthoolei Army led by former KNU Chief of Staff Nerdah Mya, the Albino Tiger Column, which is known as the DKBA divided group led by Captain Kyaw Thet, the Cobra Column, and the White Elephant Column, which are generally called the KNLA joint forces. However, KNU, the main organization, does not express or give any opinions to the media about the fighting, and only the leaders of the above-mentioned columns communicate with the media.
For more than 2 years after the military coup, there were frequent clashes between the KNU joint forces and the military council forces in areas such as Kawkareik, Myawaddy, and Kyondoe on the Thai-Myanmar border trade route in Karen State, and in Wale, Lay Kay Kaw and Philu, areas along the Thai border.
At the end of October last year, a battle broke out, which some news media described as the Kawkareik Capture Battle, and there, some battalions, including the artillery regiment of Kawkareik and the collective offices compound, were attacked. Kawkareik Police Station was also attacked, and the news reported that prisoners were released.
In the attack on Kyondoe this time, Kyondoe Police Station, LIB 545, and LIB 546 were also targeted, and there are also news reports of some civilians being killed due to the firing of heavy weapons by the military council.
The areas currently experiencing major armed conflict in Myanmar are some areas of Karen State, the Karenni State, villages on the eastern side of Demoso, some areas of Sagaing Division, and some areas of Chin State.
After the military council announced its extension of term and martial law to 37 townships on February 1, the occurrence of battles increased. In order to take control of the Sagaing Division, Karenni State, and Chin State, they are using more military force than before February 1, 2021.
In recent days, the armed forces fighting against the military council in the Karenni region were able to surround and attack some of the military council’s columns and it is reported in yesterday and today news. The KNDF forces were able to surround and attack the military council battalion, and the weapons and ammunition seized, as well as the dead bodies of the military council troops were reported in the news.
While the world is calling for a solution to Myanmar’s armed conflict, the actual situation is that the fighting is intensifying and the number of refugees fleeing the war is increasing.