Karen News

Throughout 2025, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, fought 1,113 clashes of varying intensity with junta forces in Mutraw District, causing 284 deaths and 459 injuries on the junta side, including an operation-commander, according to the KNU’s annual summary report released on January 13. The junta’s casualties also included a battalion commander, a major,…

On January 12, around 3:00 p.m., junta aircraft dropped two bombs in an initial strike, followed by two more bombs about an hour later, according to an unnamed source from Karen National Union Brigade 7 who spoke to KIC. The source added that the junta launched two follow-up strikes using loitering ammunition (kamikaze drones) in addition to the airstrikes. “Junta…

General Saw Nerdah Mya announced at the Karen National Independence Day ceremony held by the KTLA on January 5 that the Kawthoolei Republic has been established as a sovereign state, operating under a democratic system, with the goal of achieving self-determination amid the collapse of Myanmar’s central government. KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee said that the Kawthoolei Republic, declared…

The junta’s aggressive crackdown on telecom scam hubs in Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko towns in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township between October and November 2025 prompted many scammers to flee to Hpa-An, triggering a sharp rise in hotel rates. “Those fleeing to Hpa-An include both Chinese nationals and holders of Shan State ID cards. Before this, hotel rooms cost around 150,000…

The BGF announced its transformation into the KNA on January 1. Following the change, the KNA urged Shwe Kokko residents to stay vigilant, warning that clashes are likely in the town, which lies near the Thai border and is firmly under KNA control. “We’ve packed essentials just in case we need to leave the town. We don’t know what will…

According to a statement from the junta-controlled Election Commission, 24 polling stations have been set up across seven downtown wards and village tracts including Pulweipu, Phakalu, Mekanei, and Mepaleit in Myawaddy Township, where more than 60,000 voters are eligible. On average, each polling station had between 1,000 and 2,000 eligible voters, but fewer than 1,000 ballots were cast at each…

In the afternoon of December 21, a junta jet fighter dropped two 300-pound bombs on Chaungwa Village in the Khaywea Village Tract of Kyaikto Township. The bombs exploded near a cemetery on the village outskirts, damaging a nearby monastery and a motorcycle, according to local sources and Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 1. Later that evening, junta aircraft dropped two…

While the junta intensifies its crackdown on Chinese telecom scams in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, along the Thai border, junta-aligned BGF and Mon village militias have been assisting in relocating the scam operators, a Kyondoe resident reported. “The BGF faction led by Maung Win Aung in Kyondoe takes Chinese telecom scammers and sends them to Kawt Bein Town in Kawkareik…

During the current clear-weather period following the rainy season, the junta is promoting large-scale festivities in Dawei while simultaneously intensifying abductions of young people for conscription. “Dawei has been holding a series of lively night time festivals and events lately. But at the same time, young men returning from these gatherings have been abducted. Once someone is taken, it’s nearly…

The claim that the KIO and India had signed a secret agreement to mine REM deposits in Kachin State was first reported by a website called Silicon Valley Times. On December 14, the report was translated and republished by some Myanmar media outlets. Colonel Naw Bu, spokesperson for the KIO/KIA, said such reports were being fabricated as part of a…