An officer from Cobra Column, part of the KNLA-led coalition, said that the coalition forces finally took the Myawaddy Township base at around 4:00 am, after four months of trying.
He said: “We’ve been fighting to capture that base for about four months. The enemy used drones and airstrikes to defend it, but now they can’t hold out any longer and have fled. We’ve taken the base and seized some weapons, clearance operations will continue.”
Cobra Column also released photos of the captured hilltop artillery base.
a KNLA source said to KIC: “The hilltop artillery base has fallen, but now the residents of nearby villages are worried about possible retaliation airstrikes from the junta. We heard that the junta troops who fled the base have regrouped at Myittar Lin Village in Myawaddy Township, and among them are high-ranking officers, including the tactical operations commander.”
Though the KNLA-led coalition has gained control of the Swe Taw Kone hilltop artillery base, to take full control of Myawaddy Township it still needs to take the Wawlay Tactical Operations Command (Wawlay TOC) and Oo Ka Yit Hta military base in Myawaddy Township, 46 miles (74km) and 40 miles (64km) respectively from Myawaddy Town.
The Swe Taw Kone hilltop artillery base is in what the Karen call Dooplaya District (called Myawaddy District by the Burmese) which is mainly controlled by Brigade 6 of the Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of the KNLA.
The base, near the Thai border, was established as a border security base in 2003. It was manned by soldiers from Junta Divisions 22 and 44, and from Coastal Region Command based in Tanintharyi Region.
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