Karen News

The attack occurred around 3:00 p.m. on November 3, when junta forces launched coordinated airstrikes and drone bombardments on Daebuno and Lelnerde villages in the Paykin village tract. Local sources reported no active fighting during the raid. Witnesses said a junta fighter jet dropped roughly 10 bombs on the area before armed drones circled overhead, firing and dropping ordnance for…

The junta submitted a warning letter dated August 31 to the Township Border Committee (TBC), urging Thai border officials to avoid engagement with the KNU. The warning followed the opening of a new KNU trade-facilitation office in Thaw Le Hta, an area under the control of KNU Brigade 5 in Mutraw (Hpapun) District, near the Thai border. However, KNU spokesperson…

Addressing delegates on October 26 on behalf of the coalition, Naw Hser Hser, WLB’s Advocacy Team Leader, stressed that while global WPS frameworks exist under UN Security Council Resolution 1325, their implementation remains severely hindered in conflict-torn Myanmar. “First, women’s organizations need sustained, long-term funding,” Naw Hser Hser said. “Second, more opportunities must be created for women peacebuilders to participate…

Speaking to the Karen Information Center (KIC), KNU spokesperson P’doh Saw Kler Say highlighted human resource shortages after the KNU Central Executive Committee held its third plenary meeting of township administrative leaders from October 16 to 20. “Our primary challenge is a shortage of personnel,” P’doh Saw Kler Say said. “We urgently need educated Karen youth to participate. Their skills…

Sonseemyaing, located south of Myawaddy town, serves as the headquarters for the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), a junta-aligned ethnic armed group. Before heavy fighting broke out across Myawaddy Township in March 2025, monthly property rents in the area averaged 2,000-3,000 Thai baht ($55–$85 USD). Rents have since surged to 50,000-500,000 baht ($1,400–$14,000 USD) as landowners convert agricultural plots into…

Demonstrators from four village wards gathered at the local high school to present five key demands to Thai authorities, including an immediate end to the armed conflict across the border. “Over the past year, ordnance from clashes on the Myanmar side has struck homes and injured residents here. Some people working in terrace farming have even been killed,” said a…

Household financial hardship has intensified across the border since The Border Consortium (TBC), the primary non-governmental organization coordinating refugee assistance in the area, halted food aid. The loss of direct support has compelled many young refugees to abandon their education in search of manual labor outside the camps. “My eldest son dropped out in Grade 9 to work, and later…

She delivered the call while accepting the 13th Okinawa Peace Prize during an award ceremony in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on October 19. Dr. Cynthia emphasized that protecting frontline responders and vulnerable communities is vital to alleviating human suffering and building the foundation for a future federal democratic union in Myanmar. “We are calling for stronger protection for civilians, health…

Throughout September, regime forces launched near-daily aerial and artillery attacks targeting the Hngetpyawtaw and Kyaukhpyar village tracts within Thaton District, displacing the majority of residents and forcing all educational facilities to suspend classes indefinitely. “Most residents from the villages in Kyaukhpyar village tract have had to flee,” a KNU Kyaikto District Administration official said. “Schools still cannot reopen because parents…

The KNA’s Battalion 999, led by Saw Htoo Eh Moo, the son of prominent Border Guard Force (BGF) leader Colonel Saw Chit Thu conducted the unannounced measurements. The KNA, formed from splinter factions of the junta-aligned BGF, reportedly targets lands in Hteekwalaw, Maungmakwee, and Bote villages, where families rely entirely on farming for their livelihoods. Land surveys have already been…