Allied Rebel Forces Capture Last Battalion in Myanmar Border Town

Roughly 200 junta soldiers are sheltering in northern Myawaddy near a bridge to Thailand, residents said.

By RFA Burmese

Thai soldiers patrol near Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 2 on April 11, 2024.Credit: The Reporters Via RFA

An anti-junta army and allied forces on the Thailand-Myanmar border claimed the last battalion in a major trade hub, the rebel forces said in a statement on Thursday.

The Karen National Union, which began its assault on junta bases in Kayin state’s Myawaddy on Saturday, captured junta Battalion 275 on Thursday morning, it said.

One Myawaddy resident said junta soldiers who retreated from the attack were sheltering near the No. 2 Friendship Bridge. The bridge, which connects Mywaddy to Thailand’s Mae Sot, is located 10 kilometers (six miles) from the two countries’ main immigration passageway and is mainly used for transporting cargo and goods.

“They [junta troops] didn’t surrender. They withdrew to Myawaddy’s No. 2 bridge,” she said, declining to be named for security reasons. “There are about 200 soldiers, including some injured, in the truck station near that bridge.”

Allied forces seized junta Battalions 355, 356 and 357 in nearby Thin Gan Nyi Naung town on Friday, as well as parts of a trade route on the Asian Highway, forcing over 600 junta troops and their families to request evacuation through Mae Sot’s airport in Thailand on Sunday. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs complied on humanitarian grounds.

The Karen National Union seized a large number of weapons and ammunition from Battalion 275 on Thursday morning, the statement said, but did not give exact numbers. The group also warned residents to move to a safe area because junta troops may continue to launch airstrikes.

Pro-junta channels on the messaging app Telegram stated that reports of Battalion 275’s capture were untrue.

Residents were queuing up at Friendship Bridge No. 1 to cross into Thailand as usual as of Thursday morning, according to people living in Myawaddy.

A Thai immigration superintendent quoted by Reuters said the number of people crossing into Mae Sot from Myawaddy had doubled to almost 4,000 a day.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.