Myanmar’s Karen fighters capture junta camp, soldiers flee to Thailand

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Insurgent forces in eastern Myanmar captured a military camp on Friday after a battle of more than two weeks and at least 11 junta soldiers fled over the nearby border into Thailand, rebel soldiers told Radio Free Asia.

The capture of the Pu Lu Tu camp in Kayin state by fighters of the Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA, is the latest setback for the military as it prepares for an election around the end of the year that it hopes will consolidate its flagging grip on power.

“Their division commander and over 10 soldiers fled to the bank on the Thai side,” said a KNLA fighter, referring to the east bank of a river that forms the border with Thailand in the area.

“There were some deaths on their side and casualties on our side as well. We’re continuing to clear the camp.”

A Thai army officer confirmed that the Karen fighters had captured the camp after attacking with rockets, drones and snipers, and Myanmar soldiers had fled into Thailand.

“Some Myanmar soldiers died and some fled to Thailand,” Col. Nattakorn Reuntib, the commander of a task force, told reporters. He declined to say how many soldiers had fled to Thailand but said they would be sent back over a safe part of the border.

RFA tried to telephone the junta spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for information but he did not respond by time of publication.

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The KNLA is Myanmar’s oldest ethnic minority insurgent force, fighting for the self-determination of the Karen people, many of whom are Christian, since shortly after the country, then known as Burma, gained independence from colonial Britain in 1948.

KNLA forces began their attack on Pu LuTu camp on Feb. 25, and they faced more than 20 airstrikes from junta jets, said another KNLA soldier, who also declined to be identified.

A spokesman for the Karen insurgent political organization, the Karen National Union, Padoh Saw Kalehsey, told RFA he could confirm the capture of the camp but said he could not provide any details as clearance operations were still going on.

At least 500 villagers fled to Thailand to escape the fighting, residents said.

More than 3.5 million people have been displaced in Myanmar by fighting and natural disasters over the past year and the country is facing its worst humanitarian crisis ever, the U.N. food agency said.

Forces of the Myanmar junta that seized power in a 2021 coup have faced unprecedented setbacks over the past year in fighting in different parts of the country, raising questions about the sustainability of military rule.

The military chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has in recent days secured promises of support from main allies China and Russia for an election that he has said will be held by January.

But pro-democracy and ethnic minority forces battling the junta say an election under military rule, and while the country’s most popular politicians are in jail, will be a “sham”.

Pimuk Rakkanam contributed to this report.

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.