Clashes resume near Myanmar border town

Clashes between the Myanmar junta and armed ethnic groups have broken out again near a vital trade hub close to Thailand’s border, an armed-group spokesman and the Thai army said on Saturday, after a week of relative calm.

Myanmar has been roiled in conflict since the military seized power from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021.

Fierce fighting broke out around the Myanmar town of Myawaddy earlier this month, with the military forced to withdraw from its positions in the trade hub.

However, the area had been mostly quiet in the past week, with locals reporting hearing no fighting, although a regional bloc expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing situation on Friday.

During the earlier clashes, some soldiers had taken shelter under a bridge connecting Myawaddy to the Thai town of Mae Sot, the anti-junta Karen National Union (KNU) said.

KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee confirmed to Agence FrancePresse (AFP) that the group was fighting against the junta in Myawaddy, but did not give further details.

Early on Saturday morning, a Thai army unit stationed on the border said clashes were ongoing with a force targeting junta soldiers under the bridge.

“Currently in the middle of fighting, no losses known,” the Rajamnu Special Task Force posted on Facebook.

It said forces had deployed “drones” against soldiers under the 2nd Friendship Bridge, a major trade point for the cash-strapped Myanmar military.

The Thai task force also confirmed that the bridge was closed, and said its soldiers were standing by.

Mae Sot police chief Pittayakorn Petcharat told AFP on Saturday afternoon that the fighting was “intensifying.”

He said “about 2,000” people had crossed the Thai border, with local authorities searching them for weapons.

“We have given them food and moved them to the safer place,” he added.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was monitoring the situation closely and would provide humanitarian assistance.

He warned, however, that Thailand was “ready to protect our borders and the safety of our people.”

The military’s decision to pull troops from posts in the trading hub was a major blow to the junta, which has suffered a string of losses in recent months.

Myawaddy is particularly important to the military, with more than $1.1 billion worth of trade passing through it in the 12 months to April.

A Myawaddy truck driver, who declined to give his name, told AFP he had heard clashes.

“Fighting is not in the town but outside of the town. We haven’t heard anything at this moment,” he said.