Articles

KNLA and its Allies Recapture Palu, Burma Army Respond with Airstrike and Heavy Artillery

A local KNLA commander spoke to Karen News about the battle to win back the territory from the Burma Army. “We have now regained control of the [Burma Army] hilltop base. It was a strategic target, whoever gets control of the hilltop will take position there and control the area from the high ground. Now we have the position under…

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KNLA Take Burma Army Artillery Positions

On Wednesday, 16th February, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and its allies attacked Burma Army positions in the Palu area, including an artillery launching pad on a hilltop overlooking Palu Lay village. The Burma Army in response launched airstrikes and heavy artillery bombardments into the battle zone. A KNLA Joint Forces Officer, Captain Saw Da Baw, based in the…

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Papun Civil Servants Working for the Military Junta Quit After Receiving KNU Notice

The Karen National Union’s 5th Brigade issued the letter on January 29, calling on all civil servants in Papun, Karen State to leave their positions from February 1st to the 10th, and to refrain from performing their duties under the military dictatorship. Local KNU officials confirmed to Karen News that more than 100 Papun civil servants working in a variety…

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Padoh Mahn Sha’s Words Still Ring Strong…

Trawling through transcripts of my interviews with the late Padoh Mahn Sha, it stood out that his guidance and political intellect would be invaluable today as fighting rages between ethnic armed groups, their allies and the Burma Army and its sponsored militia’s. In November 2006, Padoh Mahn Sha explained why the Karen National Union was unwilling to surrender. “Our resolve…

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VALE HARN LAY – 1963 to 2022

I first met cartoonist Harn Lay, 15 years ago in the northern Thai town of Chiang Mai. He was then working for the Irrawaddy magazine. I was impressed by his cartoons that never failed to skewer Burma’s military regime and wanted to write a feature about him and his work. Today, the military regime still rules Burma with an iron…

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KNU Refuse Military Regime’s Invitation to ‘Preliminary Peace Talks’

The State Administrative Council sent its invitation to all of the Ethnic Armed Organizations, both signatories and non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, those exclude were those labelled by the military regime as terrorist organizations. Padoh Saw Taw Nee, head of the KNU’s Foreign Affairs Department, said they would not attend the meeting that will be led by the regime’s…

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Torrential Rains and Heavy Winds Destroy Displaced Villagers Makeshift Shelters and Security

Just when the displaced people, thought it could not get any worse, their makeshift shelters offering little resistance, were smashed when unseasonal heavy rains and gale force winds tore through their encampment on the 4th and 5th of February. A Lay Kay Kaw displaced villager told Karen News. “It rained so hard in the early night [of February 4th], our…

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Burma Civil Society Groups: “It is not the UN Special Envoy’s Role to Keep Our Oppressors in Power…”

Dr. Heyzer’s comments were made during an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA) on 31st January 2022, a day before the anniversary of the February 1st military coup. Dr. Heyzer’s comments were later claimed by the UN Special envoy office as a ‘misunderstanding’. On February 1st, The European Karen Network (EKN) issued a statement rejecting Dr. Heyzer’s proposal for “power…

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Displaced Villagers Face Continued Hardship – Thai Temporary Shelters Close, Burma Army Occupy Villages, Illnesses Hit Children and Elderly

The displaced villagers are now forced to live in makeshift plastic sheet shelters on the banks of the Moei (Thaung Yin) River that marks the border between Burma and Thailand. Many of the makeshift shelters are set up on so-called ‘no-man’s land’ – patches of gravel-beds left in the middle of the Moei River as wet season flood waters subside.…

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Fighting Forces Displaced Villagers to Abandon Farmlands and Livestock – Burma Army Soldiers Kill and Eat Villagers Chickens, Ducks and Pigs

The Burma Army advanced into Karen National Union controlled areas resulting in fighting with the Karen National Liberation Army. Villagers have been displaced in their tens of thousands as they flee the fighting. Villages are deserted as the Burma Army advances and farmland, crops and livestock left unattended as people look to find safety elsewhere. Displaced villagers in the southern…

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