Myanmar military loses control of key town on Thai border, rebels say, in major win for anti-junta resistance

CNN —

Myanmar rebels fighting the junta say they have seized the last remaining military base in a key border town, dealing the latest significant blow to the country’s military rulers as they struggle to cling to power.

About 200 soldiers abandoned their base in the southeastern town of Myawaddy and have been pushed to the No 2. Friendship Bridge linking Myanmar to Thailand following an attack Wednesday night by Karen resistance fighters, a spokesperson for the Karen National Union told CNN Thursday.

“Officially we (are in) control of the town Myawaddy since last night,” KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee said. The loss of the major trading point with Thailand was “a big issue for the military,” he added.

CNN cannot independently confirm the KNU’s claim. The spokesperson clarified that the rebels do not yet control the border bridge, saying the soldiers are trying to get safe passage into Thailand.

Myawaddy, a strategically important town of 200,000 people, sits across from Thailand’s Mae Sot. The border crossing, which was under the control of the junta, is vital for trade, especially commercial goods and food flowing into Myanmar.

It is also the location for multiple compounds that form the billion dollar online scam factories that have exploded inside Myanmar’s lawless border regions in recent years, many of them staffed by foreign nationals forced to work in conditions akin to modern day slavery. The UN estimates that up to 120,000 people could be held in compounds across Myanmar.

Video shared by Reuters shows Myanmar citizens crossing the border to Thailand on Thursday with some saying they felt scared amid the fighting. Footage also showed Thai military vehicles and troops stationed along the border.