Karen News

Junta personnel—including officers and newly drafted conscripts—have been arriving in successive batches wearing civilian clothes to disguise their movement. Drivers operating along the Phayathonzu-Mawlamyine Road state that troops are first dispatched from Kyainseikgyi Town to the Phayathonzu tactical command before being redistributed to nearby frontline bases and artillery positions. “The soldiers are coming from Kyainseikgyi to Phayathonzu in civilian vehicles,…

The sudden spike in arbitrary arrests follows recent leaked directives ordering regional authorities across the state to aggressively fulfill strict recruitment quotas for the military’s upcoming conscription cycles. The sweep has effectively crippled nightlife and mobility in the state capital, turning urban streets desolate long before midnight. “Now, once it gets to around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., most people don’t…

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied forces launched the September 4 drone strike against an auxiliary artillery battalion under Military Operations Command 12 (MOC 12) near Kawkareik town, killing four junta soldiers and wounding five others. Following the attack, MOC 12 and nearby Light Infantry Battalions 545 and 536 retaliated with heavy artillery, shelling the villages of Laungkaing,…

The relocation follows weeks of heavy clashes between a resistance coalition led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Myanmar military along the Hpalu–Wawlay road. Escalating junta artillery bombardments and suicide drone attacks near Kasawwahlay, Kykawwahbo, and Yekonesakan have forced Chinese syndicate operators to abandon their compounds for safer DKBA-held areas. Local sources confirmed that scam operators, locally…

Under the KNU’s administrative structure, Hpapun falls within Mutraw District, the primary operational area of its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 5. Since early May, junta forces have launched offensives along the Hpapun-Kamarmaung Road, deploying heavy reinforcements to secure a strategic hilltop base and retake Hpapun Town, which regime forces lost control of earlier this year.…

The attacks, carried out between September 2024 and September 2026 across all seven districts of KNU-controlled territory (Kawthoolei), involved repeated airstrikes and artillery shelling that also injured 74 others, the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD) said. “Although we have recorded 34 schools that were attacked, some were targeted repeatedly,” said Saw Thaw Thi, KECD’s communications and advocacy officer, adding…

The KNA—a militia formerly known as the junta-aligned Karen Border Guard Force (BGF)—is renting local vehicles at premium rates and providing armed escorts to transport the scammers to Kyawkayhta Village. The area sits within territory where the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Brigade 7 operates. “The KNA came to rent vehicles from local villages to transport the Chinese,” a local driver…

The 33 ‘Kaw’ territories are areas governed under the traditional systems of Indigenous communities. ‘Kaw’ refers to a traditional territorial governance system that has existed among Indigenous Karen communities since before modern administrative systems emerged. Under the system, local communities protect, conserve and manage land, forests, mountains and natural resources in accordance with their traditional customs and practices. According to…

In downtown Hpa-An, authorities are primarily targeting young casual laborers, masons, shop employees, and commuters traveling to and from work. While some detainees have been released, it is often only after families negotiate and pay substantial bribes. “Authorities carefully plan their daily abductions to prevent leaks. A friend of mine was arrested a few days ago. He was only released…

The assertion came during the August 28 virtual launch of the council’s progress report, “Building Chinland: Exercising Self-Determination – Two and a Half Years of Alternative Governance by the Chinland Council.” Produced with support from the Chin Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (CCPR) and drawing on input from 19 townships and administrative zones, the report details how alternative administration has…