Around 200 members of the Myanmar military retreated to a bridge in Thailand on Thursday, following sustained assaults from anti-junta rebels, who claimed to have gained control over the key border city of Myawaddy; another success marking the rebels’ recent victories. The military-led government of Myanmar is currently combating multiple insurgencies and has suffered multiple setbacks along the frontier regions since October of last year, linked to an orchestrated offensive by rebels near the Chinese borders.
The economically challenged Southeast Asian country has faced chaos since the military overthrew an elected civilian government in the 2021 coup, inciting a nationwide armed protest. The protest incorporates some pre-existing ethnic rebel groups.
The spokesperson for Myanmar’s National Unity Government, Kyaw Zaw, told Reuters, “Today the KNU-led joint resistance forces captured the left-over military base in Myawaddy”. He characterized the victory as significant as Myawaddy is a crucial border city offering a significant income stream via border trade to the military junta.
The military junta in Myanmar did not offer a comment when contacted. The junta’s retreat from Myawaddy, which is near the Thai town of Mae Sot, indicates the possible loss of another strategic border trading point, providing direct road link to central regions of Myanmar.
Around 200 soldiers from Myanmar, who were escaping hostilities, assembled at a border entry into Thailand, says Saw Taw Nee, the spokesperson for the anti-junta group, Karen National Union (KNU), orchestrating the assault on Myawaddy. Reports from news source Khit Thit revealed that Thai officials were negotiating with the soldiers about possibly offering them refuge.
The attack on Myawaddy began last week after the KNU said that they had ambushed a junta camp close to town, compelling around 500 security staff and their families to surrender. Myanmar’s military has also been driven out of locations along the nation’s boundaries with Bangladesh, China, and India, with significant manpower depletion forcing it to employ a draft for the first time.
Helping protect the border, Thailand’s military has upgraded its security measures, deploying army vehicles fitted with machine guns mounted on the roof.
The Prime Minister of Thailand, Srettha Thavisin, previously informed Reuters that he perceived the Myanmar ruling military junta as “weakening” and promoted negotiation with the government. He announced last Thursday that the recent conflict must not cross into Thailand’s airspace. The Thai Foreign Minister has declared the country’s neutral stance in the Myanmar dispute and its readiness to accommodate up to 100,000 individuals displaced by the crisis. According to the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group, the latest period of conflict within Myanmar between rebels and the armed forces has resulted in at least 2,000 people being displaced. This information was provided by Reuters.