Military blocks off Myawaddy road following Kayin State clashes

By DMG 27 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
27 August 2022, Myawaddy, Kayin State

The Myanmar military blocked off the Myawaddy–Ukayit Hta–Waw Lay road after junta troops clashed with a coalition led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) near Thone Htat Kwe village in Myawaddy Township, Kayin State, from August 23 to 25.

“The Myanmar military blocked residents and traffic on the Myawaddy–Ukayit Hta–Waw Lay road following the Thone Htat Kwe clash,” a Waw Lay resident said.

Regime forces and a Border Guard Force splinter group were deployed at That Baw Bo and Son Hsi Myaing villages on the other side of the Myawaddy–Ukayit Hta–Waw Lay road, according to Sukali villagers.

“The residents are not allowed to go out and the junta soldiers threatened the villagers not to go out. The residents dare not go out for fear of being shot by the junta soldiers,” a Sukali villager said.

The road blockade by the Myanmar military has made it difficult for IDPs living near the Thaungyin River, on the Thai-Myanmar border near Ukayit Hta village, to buy food, according to aid workers.

“The Myanmar military’s road closure made it difficult for IDPs to buy food. IDPs will run out of food within a month,” said an aid worker.

Fierce fighting broke out between the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 44 and Cobra Column — part of the KNLA-led coalition — near Thone Htat Kwe on the Myawaddy-Waw Lay road from August 23 to 25.

The Myanmar military used seven jet fighters and carried out at least 10 aerial bombardments during the battle, according to a source close to the Karen National Union (KNU), the KNLA’s political wing.

Five KNLA fighters were injured in the fighting and one of them is said to be in critical condition. Forty-eight junta soldiers were killed and 80 others injured in the hostilities, according to a statement released by the KNU.

The military junta has not released any information or response to the KNU’s statement, and DMG has not been able to independently confirm its details.