By Kantarawaddy Times
Junta troops are surrending as resistance forces continue to take their bases in southern Karenni State. “Only the Nam Poung military camp in Mese Township is left, all other military camps have already been taken by our troops,” said Col Bhone Naing, Adjutant General of the Karenni Army (KA).
“If they don’t desert, their military camp will be attacked sooner or later.”
The Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), which controls much of the township, was previously a Border Guard Force until it defected this month and started fighting against the military dictatorship. By 23 June, the KNPLF, KA and other Karenni resistance groups had captured all the major camps of the regime. Nam Poung is the last one still standing, equipped with 120 mm artillery.
“At the moment, Mese town is under our control and Burma army soldiers are deserting the Nam Poung camp because they’re afraid,” explains Bhone Naing. The police at the Mese station ran away when they captured the town on 13 June and took the camps BP-14, Mae Tanwe (BP-15) and Tawng Hla (BP-16), he said.
The Karenni resistance groups will fight to the end, Bhone Naing said, calling on all regime soldiers to surrender their weapons. Due to the ongoing conflict with the junta, a warning has been issued to civilians not to travel to the region. Many people are fleeing to the Thai border and some civilians have taken refuge in a cave to escape the fighting.
