Karen News

On 7 April 2025, the KNU and junta troops fought in Mawdaung Town, which is on the border with Thailand. After the fighting had subsided in the town a junta drone dropped the suspected chemical weapon onto KNU soldiers in Theinkhun Village on the outskirts of Mawdaung Town, according to Padoh Saw Eh Nar, the KNU Secretary for the districts…

In mid-March 2025, around 900 junta troops, in three columns, entered and stationed themselves in Yebyu Town to the east of the Dawei SEZ project and Launglon Town to the south of the SEZ. Comrade Shadow, a spokesperson for Launglon Township People’s Defence Force (Launglon PDF) said: “The junta sent about 900 troops to the two towns, but around 100…

Naw Say War, a 58-year-old teacher, set up the school six years ago after she first went to Kyu Kho Village and saw that there was no school there. Seven years ago, whilst travelling through Hpapun District, an area mainly controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), Naw Say War came across Kyu Kho, a small village made up of…

The junta’s battalion headquarters in Kawkareik Township, mobile artillery battalions and drones have been shelling the villages since 2 April, the day the junta’s claimed ceasefire began, according to an officer of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) who spoke to KIC. He said: “The junta has been bombarding villages north and south of Kawkareik Township almost every day since…

Palaw Township is an area mainly under control of the Karen National Union (KNU), which carries out healthcare in the area. According to a woman working for the KNU’s Kawthoolei Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) who spoke to KIC, a 30-year-old woman and an infant died in Palaw District after malaria spread to their brains. She said: “Malaria cases…

Though the 7.7-magnitude earthquake had its epicentre under Sagaing City about 228 miles (367 km) to the north of Taungoo Town it still caused a lot of damage in the town. According to collated data, as of 3 April, the earthquake had killed 17 people, including six children, and destroyed approximately 100 houses in Taungoo Town. As aid teams have…

International media has been eager to enter Myanmar to cover the aftermath of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake with its epicentre in Sagaing. It caused widespread destruction to cities, towns, and villages, including the cities of Sagaing, Mandalay, Tada-U, Taungoo, and the capital, Naypyidaw. But, the junta has refused to allow journalists from international media organisations to enter the country, because…

“When I saw my house in ruins, completely shattered, I was speechless, overwhelmed by immense pain. The misery was unbearable, and I didn’t want to stay in my village anymore,” said Naung Mu Pali, struggling to hold back her emotions, after her house was destroyed in a junta airstrike on 5 March 2025. 28-year-old Naung Mu Pali lived in Ashun…

A dosshouse is a very cheap boarding house that rents out bunks on a daily basis to homeless and poor people seeking cheap accommodation. Many junta soldiers surrounded the dosshouse, before arresting around 20 people they accused of failing to register as overnight guests. One of the neighbours said to KIC: “The people arrested included those over 50, as well…

There were airstrikes on the villages both in the morning and the afternoon of 25 March. They came after a Karen National Union (KNU)-led coalition started attacking a junta camp in Sintoehla Village at 7:00 pm the previous evening, 24 March. On the morning of 25 March a jet fighter and a Y-12 utility aircraft bombed Sintoehla Village on the…