Current location:world >>
Myanmar junta attacks garrison in bid to rescue stranded soldiers — Radio Free Asia
world9334People have gathered around
IntroductionMyanmar’s junta launched an airstrike Tuesday on a military garrison in Kayin state that rebel force ...
Myanmar’s junta launched an airstrike Tuesday on a military garrison in Kayin state that rebel forces captured last week and attempted to rescue dozens of its former occupants who had been sheltering near the country’s border with Thailand, according to Thai soldiers and residents.
Allied rebel forces, including the Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA, captured a final junta battalion base in Myawaddy on the morning of April 11, effectively gaining control of the city and causing thousands of residents to flee into the border region.
The takeover forced some 200 junta soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 275 to seek shelter at a truck depot in northern Myawaddy near Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 2 – one of two bridges which regulate both people and goods and connect Myawaddy to Thailand’s Mae Sot.
A Thai soldier in Mae Sot told RFA Burmese that the junta attacked the site of the garrison on Tuesday and sent reinforcements from Mawlamyine – Myanmar’s fourth largest city, located 300 kilometers (190 miles) southeast of Yangon – to rescue the troops at the border.
“The junta mobilized armored cars from Mawlamyine’s Southeastern Command and conducted an airstrike today to retake and rescue the stranded troops following the fall of Battalion 275 last week,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
The Reporters, a Thailand-based news organization, reported that the junta carried out an airstrike at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday near the Light Infantry Battalion 275 base in Myawaddy, which is currently occupied by the KNLA and allied forces.
The airstrike, reportedly conducted by a MIG-29 jet fighter, took place a day after rebels raised the ethnic Karen flag over the compound. The extent of damage to the site was unknown.
Attempts by RFA to contact Saw Khin Maung Myint, the junta’s economic minister and spokesperson for Kayin state, went unanswered Tuesday, as did efforts to contact the Karen National Union – the political organization whose armed wing is the KNLA.
Stranded soldiers
A resident of Myawaddy who declined to be named due to security concerns told RFA that the situation in the city appeared “normal” on Tuesday, despite the airstrike.
"I haven’t heard anything unusual,” he said, adding that “people are going about their usual activities."
It was not immediately clear whether the junta was able to rescue its stranded soldiers on Tuesday.
But Thai soldiers on the other side of Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 2 told RFA they expect the patience of the Karen rebels will run out soon and that an attack on the truck depot could be imminent.
Thai media reports have also cited local sources on both sides of the border as saying that the stranded junta troops are running out of food and may be forced to surrender, if Karen rebels don’t attack first.
The reports follow an April 13 statement issued by the anti-junta White Tiger Column, which claimed rebel forces had intercepted a military convoy that included tanks on its way to Myawaddy township as reinforcements.
Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“World Whirl news portal”。http://botswana.shellye-mcdaniel.com/news-13f699310.html
Related articles
Musa scores a goal, Paes has 7 saves as Dallas and Dynamo tie 1
worldHOUSTON (AP) — Petar Musa scored a goal and Maarten Paes tied his career high with seven saves for F ...
【world】
Read moreHousekeeper contest of boutique homestays held in Beijing's Yanqing district
worldA housekeeper contest of boutique homestays held in Beijing's Yanqing district on April 20. [photo p ...
【world】
Read moreNative Youth Olympics: Alaska’s Indigenous teens emulate ancestors’ Arctic survival skills
worldANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The athletes filling a huge gym in Anchorage were ready to compete, cheerin ...
【world】
Read more
Popular articles
- Beijing secure comeback win in Chinese Super League
- China firmly opposes recent US
- China firmly opposes recent US
- Police in Tennessee fatally shot man after he shot a woman in the face. She is expected to survive
- NYC firefighter who collapsed in burning home likely saved by smoke inhalation drug
- Organizers start ticket refund process for Messi's no
Latest articles
OpenAI announces GPT
Spring Festival lantern fair combines tradition, creative displays to attract visitors
Yokohama F. Marinos edge Shandong in ACL thriller
China opens 829 sites providing free pneumoconiosis treatment
Palestinians mark 76th anniversary of Nakba amid ongoing conflict with Israel
Donald Trump is running against Joe Biden. But he keeps bringing up another Democrat: Jimmy Carter
LINKS
- CPEC hydropower station starts impoundment in NW Pakistan
- China's Shaanxi sees record surge in foreign
- 4th China Cross
- Xinjiang sees record number of high
- Chinese C919 passenger plane debuts Singapore Airshow
- DeSmith stops 32 shots and Canucks sweep season series with 3
- China's Shaanxi sees record surge in foreign
- Sydney mall stabbing: Police identify the attacker who killed 6 people
- Black sailor killed at Pearl Harbor FINALLY identified more than eight decades after 19
- Feature: Australian winemaker excited about re