Fighting in Karen State between regime and resistance forces ‘intensifies’

A source close to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) told DVB that regime forces have intensified their attacks in order to take full control of the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Highway, a border trade route into Thailand, since Feb. 14.

“The clashes have intensified,” Kyaw Hein, a battalion commander for a resistance group fighting alongside the KNLA in Myawaddy, told DVB. “They want to take control of the highway.” Myawaddy is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An.

A military analyst in Karen State told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the regime in Naypyidaw wants to control all of the profits earned from vital border trade with Thailand that enters the country via the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Highway.

Regime forces, along with the Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), have been carrying out attacks against the KNLA on the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Highway since fighting resumed there on Sept. 5, 2025.

Min Aung Hlaing instructed regime officials to take precise action on illegal border trade on Aug. 12. The No. 2 Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge linking Karen State’s border town of Myawaddy to Mae Sot, Thailand, was closed six days later, on Aug. 18.

The regime has seized cargo trucks in Myawaddy for allegedly transporting illegal goods into Myanmar. Myawaddy residents told DVB that military personnel working along with the regime administration have raided homes and warehouses allegedly storing illegal goods.

A Myawaddy resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that airstrikes were carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on KNLA-led forces in Wawlaymyaing village and near its Htithaele military outpost in southern Myawaddy on Feb. 10.