The Karen National Union (KNU) and its allied ethnic armed organizations have successfully seized a strategic Myanmar junta military base near the Thai border, in a growing sign of the military regime's eroding territorial control across multiple regions of the country.
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the KNU’s armed wing, alongside allied forces, captured the Maw Phoe Kay base in Paingkyon Township, Hpa-an District, on Monday. The base lies within territory claimed by KNU Brigade 7 and had been under military control since it was taken by the regime of former dictator Ne Win in 1981.
According to Karen media outlets, junta forces abandoned the base amid mounting pressure. Thai media reported that 27 Myanmar soldiers fled across the Moei River into Thailand to escape the attack.
In the aftermath of the clash, over 200 civilians from surrounding villages also crossed into Thai territory, fearing retaliatory airstrikes by the military regime. “Residents feared possible retaliatory airstrikes by the junta,” said Naw Cherry of the Karen Peace Support Network, speaking to The Irrawaddy.
The seizure marks the eighth junta base to fall into KNU hands in Brigade 7 territory since intensified fighting resumed in the region. It follows a string of rapid territorial gains by resistance forces, signaling a broader shift in momentum against Myanmar’s embattled military junta.
On Friday, the KNLA and the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) jointly overran the junta’s Maw Kwee Lu base in Paingkyon. Days later, on May 13, they seized Tarlal base, a key military outpost in the same township. During that attack, nine junta troops, including a captain, were killed, and the deputy commander of Infantry Battalion 24 reportedly fled the scene.
Elsewhere, the KNU and its allies also captured the Htee Khee base, a strategic trade post on the Thai border in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region. Earlier this month, they briefly seized the Light Infantry Battalion 598 headquarters in Shwegyin Township, Bago Region.
The KNU, one of Myanmar’s oldest and most formidable ethnic resistance groups, has grown in strength since the 2021 military coup. It has trained and armed thousands of new fighters and supported the formation of People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) aligned with the National Unity Government (NUG).
Fighting continues across Karen and Mon states, as well as in Tanintharyi and Bago regions, where resistance forces have pushed the frontlines closer to central Myanmar. The KNU and its partners have even carried out strikes against junta targets in the capital Naypyitaw.
The Myanmar junta, increasingly stretched thin across multiple fronts, has not commented on the latest defeats. Analysts say the loss of control over border regions like Karen State diminishes the military’s strategic hold and disrupts key trade and supply routes.
With each new base lost, the junta’s grip on power appears to weaken — signaling a potential turning point in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war.
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