[Tee tiong huat]

Rebels raise flag at seized Myanmar base, commander confident of retaining control.

MYAWADDY, Myanmar - Myanmar resistance fighters on April 15 burned the flag used by the military govt and raised their own banner at a newly captured army base, as a senior rebel commander vowed they would hold the strategic area near the Thai border.

The celebrations by fighters linked to the armed ethnic Karen National Union (KNU) came less than a week after the capture of Myawaddy, a key trading town on Thailand's western border.

Myawaddy's fall marked another battlefield loss for powerful military regime that seized control in 2021 from an elected govt led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains in detention.
KNU's national flag is raised after burning Myanmar's national flag @Myanmar military base at Thingyan Nyi Naung village on the outskirts of Myawaddy.

MYAWADDY, Myanmar - Myanmar resistance fighters on April 15 raised their own banner at a newly captured army base, as a senior rebel commander vowed they would hold the strategic area near the Thai border.

Celebrations fighters linked to armed ethnic Karen National Union (KNU) came less than a week after capturing of Myawaddy, a key trading town on Thailand's western border. This 
Myawaddy's fall marked another battlefield loss for military regime seized control in 2021 from elected govt led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains in detention.

Simmering anger against the junta has turned into a nationwide armed resistance movement that is now increasingly operating in coordination with established ethnic rebel groups to challenge the military across large parts of Myanmar.

Since October 2023, the army has lost control of key areas near its borders with both India and China to a loose coalition of allied resistance forces. Loss of Myawaddy at the Thai border could further dent trade revenue for the junta.

A rare in-person interview, Colonel Nadah Htoo, a Ops commander of Brigade 6 of KNU's military wing captured army base use by junta forces have tried & failed to retake area. "They have been unsuccessful in breakthrough twice now," he said.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/rebels...ng-control