Myanmar army battalion wiped out in Karen State, says KNU ally

Resistance forces under the command of the Karen National Union (KNU) say they eliminated almost an entire Myanmar army battalion on Tuesday, killing its commander and deputy commander and seizing weapons and ammunition.

According to a statement released by the Cobra Column, part of the KNU-led alliance, junta troops belonging to Infantry Battalion (IB) 8 were about halfway between the towns of Myawaddy and Waw Lay in Karen (Kayin) State when they were ambushed on Tuesday morning.

In the ensuing battle, which took place between the villages of Thone Htet Kwae and Thayet Ta Pin, almost all of the regime soldiers were wiped out, the statement said.

The military has been sending reinforcements into the area since late last month, when the Cobra Column, along with troops from the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karen National Defence Organisation, launched an assault on the key Oo Ka Yit Hta military outpost near the Thai-Myanmar border.

Speaking to Myanmar Now on Wednesday, a Cobra Column spokesperson said that the exact number of junta casualties was not yet known, as area-clearing operations were still underway.

“Many junta officers, including the battalion commander and deputy commander, were killed. We can confirm that much,” the spokesperson said, adding that many bodies have already been retrieved.

The group has also released photos of some of the weapons and ammunition that were seized, including RPG missiles, grenades, 40mm missiles, landmines, 5,000 5.56mm bullets, 3,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition, and an MA-1 rifle.

IB 8 earned notoriety in May 2020, when it torched the village of Lakka, near Mrauk-U in Rakhine State, during clashes with the Arakan Army.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a number of troops from the battalion were said to be still pinned down on the Myawaddy-Waw Lay highway, despite efforts by regime forces to rescue them by firing heavy artillery the night before.

Five battalions under the command of Light Infantry Division (LID) 44 have been deployed to the Waw Lay area to keep the Oo Ka Yit Hta outpost out of KNU hands. The regime has also carried out more than 100 airstrikes to retain control of the outpost.

The Cobra Column also intercepted a column of reinforcements from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 207 near Thone Htet Kwae last Thursday, killing five officers, the group said.

On Saturday, five soldiers from LIB 102 who had been sent to Waw Lay to transport injured troops out of the area reportedly surrendered to resistance forces.

In late April, two soldiers from IB 1, under LID 44, defected to the Cobra Column and handed over their weapons, according to the group’s spokesperson.