February 16th, 2022
The military council has reinforced around 300 members of the Border Guard Force (BGF) to transport arms and rations to the frontline areas in the Brigade-5 of the Karen National Union (KNU), said the officials of the KNU’s Brigade-5.
Col Saw Htoo Ka Shaw, the tactical commander of the KNU’s Brigade-5 said: “The military suffers casualties every day and wants to dispatch arms and rations to Hpapun. The administrative body and the military may face difficulties if the military cannot send them. So, the military asked the BGF to help transport arms and rations as the military has no sufficient number of troops there. The military must have a plan to construct new roads.”
In the past, there were nearly 999 BGF members in the Brigade-5 area.
“Now around 300 BGF members have arrived in Yanaungmyay. The military no longer uses the gravel roads to transport arms and rations. Now the military is constructing the new roads using heavy equipment,” Col Saw Htoo Ka Shaw continued.
Likewise, the military council is carrying out the reinforcement of troops to crush the KNU’s Brigade-5. In the past, there were 28 battalions of the military council. Now the total number of battalions has reached 32. The total number of troops may be around 4,000, according to the KNU’s estimate.
Although it is exactly unknown which battalion the BGF members are from and who leads them, they are from the battalions under the BGF, the KNU said.
As fighting is taking place in the KNU’s Brigade-5 area every day. As the region sees a military tension, locals from downtown Hpapun have fled to safer places. Following the KNU’s warning statement, more than 100 civil servants have left the town.
Major Saw Mote Thone, Commander of the BGF No.1022 Station at a Kyonedoe campfire in the recent day said that he did not want the heavy casualties of the BGF members and intense fighting in Brigade-5 and Brigade-1 territories and possible intense fighting in Karen State. Karen people have to lose their lives due to the creation of war with the money funded by the expats. Such acts amount to creating disunity.”
In late January, there were 322 times of clashes between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and a combined force of the military council and the BGF in the Brigade-5-controlled territory, killing 194 soldiers of the military council and injuring 201 others, according to the KNU’s statement on February 2nd.
Sent by the KIC.
