KNLA

Australia’s Karen community gathered in Sydney on Saturday to mark the 66th year of armed struggle against successive military regimes in Burma. “The celebration today is to empower the Karen community of Australia and to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Burma,” Saw Lwin Oo, the National President of Australia’s Karen Organisation said, standing beside an Australian flag…

Karen people have started to make their annual pilgrimage to the Karen National Liberation Army 7th Brigade’s headquarter in Hpa-an district to commemorate the 66th Anniversary of the beginning of its resistance against the former Burma military regime. The Karen Resistance Day falls on 31st January and is celebrated every year in Karen National Union controlled territory. This year, the…

A memorial service was held for General Bo Mya, the late chairman of the Karen National Union and head of its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army and for his oldest son, Saw Nay Kaw. General Bo Mya served the Karen struggle since the 1940’s until his death in 2006. The worship service was held on January 20 at…

A group of unknown gunmen shot and killed a captain and a driver of the Karen National Liberation Army on 11 December while they were traveling by car on the Dawei –Ye road near the southern Burmese Township of Ye Byu in Tanintharyi Division. The KNLA soldiers were from a KNU 4th Brigade battalion. Padoh Saw Eh Na, joint secretary…

When ethnic fighters clashed with the Myanmar military in Myawaddy Township last month, most ethnic Karen farmers stayed put, despite fears the army would respond with violence. “They have run away so many times, they are tired of running,” said Reverend Day Bert, the 70-year-old pastor at Myawaddy’s Baptist Church. With Thailand just across the narrow Moei River, Karen people…

In an exclusive interview with Karen News, General Baw Kyaw Heh, the KNLA’s Vice-Chief of Staff, explained his decision to back the formation of a united Karen armed force called the Kawthoolei Armed Forces (KAF). Gen. Baw Kyaw explains his decision, stating that a united Karen armed forces was the best way to “reform the Karen security sector.” “In this…

A statement released by members of the different Karen armed groups laid out plans for the major Karen armed organisations to form a united Karen force, the Kawthoolei Armed Forces (KAF). The statement spoke on behalf of the four major Karen armed organisations, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army…

Handcuffed and with his throat-slit, Saw Ta Noe’s body was found in the Moei River near the Burmese border town of Myawaddy on September 22, a week after his disappearance. Saw Ta Noe, 23 a private, served in the Karen National Liberation Army’s special battalion under the Headquarter Command located in the KNLA’s 6th Brigade. On September 16, Saw Ta…

Fighting broke out in Karen State’s Brigade 5 area between Karen National Liberation Army forces and the Burma Army. The fighting took place on September 9. The fighting between the KNLA Brigade 5, based in Mutraw, Papun District, and Burma Army forces, including infantry battalion #19, from U Thoo Hta camp involved light weapon exchanges. The two forces exchanged fire…

Fighting between Karen soldiers and Burma Army troops broke out in Papun District last week killing one and wounding one Burma Army soldier. Sources from the Karen National Union’s Papun district office confirmed to Karen News that soldiers from a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) 5th Brigade unit clashed with a Burma Army patrol. The Burma Army troops were based…