The entrance and exit roads of Myawaddy town have been closed as the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and resistance joint forces continue to attack the junta’s infantry battalion 275 in Myawaddy town, Kayin State, according to local residents.
“It closed at 9:00 a.m. today. Some cars are trapped. When the road is closed, some cars are waiting because the road is closed. When we called before reaching the foot of the mountain, Myawaddy’s entrance and exit had been closed starting from Thae Pone Gate. We can’t move forward by car. As soon as the road was closed, we returned,” said a woman traveling.
The counter-fighting has restarted since the afternoon of March 9, and the military junta was continuously launching air attacks with jet fighters and also firing with heavy weapons all night yesterday and the whole morning today.
“I don’t know for sure why the road is closed. We only ask each driver. If we stayed on the mountain, it would be difficult to eat and drink, so we returned to a safe place. We don’t know when the road will reopen. We will go after checking. The driver said he will tell us if he can go up,” she said.
Due to the current fighting situation in Myawaddy town, the entrance and exit roads of the town may be controlled for a moment, according to a car driver running from Yangon to Myawaddy.
“My car route is not available today. I will go tomorrow. I can’t say for sure whether the road will reopen or not. We will have to monitor the situation,” he said.
Currently, due to military airstrikes and heavy weapons fire, the buildings in the Myawaddy trade zone are on fire, and at least 5 places in the town, including Sein Lae Myaing Car Station, were burned down, according to local residents.
“It was noisy all night due to the shooting. I heard they (junta) were using airplanes with one propeller left over from the war. I didn’t hear that Battalion 275 was captured. They (resistance forces) are still fighting there,” explained a comrade from a resistance force.
Last March 7, the KNLA and resistance joint forces started to attack the light infantry battalions 355, 356, and 357 in Thin Gan Nyi Naung in Myawaddy town. Currently, they have reportedly captured the Light Infantry Battalion 355 – Thin Gan Nyi Naung Police Station, Light Infantry Battalion 356 – Thin Gan Nyi Naung strategic military camp, and the Light Infantry Battalion 357.


