Some 65 Myanmar army soldiers were killed and 101 injured in clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Karen State’s Mutraw (Hpapun) District in the month of July alone, according to the Karen National Union (KNU).
Thoolei News, under the KNU’s information department, posted on their Facebook page on Monday that a total of 133 battles were fought in the area last month, those injured included a junta battalion commander.
The commander was wounded during one of the 29 battles fought during the third week of July, the news outlet said.
In the fighting, five homes belonging to villagers were reportedly destroyed. The KNU also reported that the military council was responsible for 25 episodes of artillery fire in civilian areas. Four civilians also triggered landmine explosions.
Citing Col Saw Kler Doh—spokesperson for the KNLA’s Brigade 5, the territory of which is in Mutraw—Thoolei News said that two personnel from the military-allied Border Guard Force surrendered to the KNLA in July, and four light arms were confiscated at that time.
Three KNLA soldiers were also reportedly injured.
The news report stated that the occupying junta troops had stolen livestock from locals, including buffaloes and cows.
At the time of reporting, the military council had not responded to the KNU’s allegations.
Shelling by the junta’s LIB 409 in Thaton District—the KNLA’s Brigade 1 territory—also injured a local from Nyaung Kone village during the period in question, Thoolei News stated.
In addition to fighting with the KNLA, the military council’s armed forces have been engaged in battles with the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin and northern Shan states. The Karenni Army in Kayah (Karenni) State and the Chin National Front in Chin State have also fought alongside other local resistance forces against the junta.
The junta announced on July 31 that it would cease all “military activities” for two months, throughout August and September, but People’s Defence Forces and ethnic armed organisations have questioned the sincerity of the announcement. The Myanmar military has long been known to declare temporary unilateral ceasefires in its fights against ethnic armed organisations, then repeatedly break them.
