Junta launches airstrikes on KNU-controlled routes to Mawdaung

The junta is carrying out airstrikes on the roads heading to Mawdaung Town in Tanintharyi Township, Tanintharyi Region, while amassing troops for ground offensives.

Mawdaung Town, near the Thai border, was captured by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the People's Defence Force (PDF) on November 14. Since then, the junta has been bombing the KNU-controlled road to the town while amassing forces for ground assaults.

“Ever since the KNU and PDF took Mawdaung, junta planes started bombing the surrounding areas. It’s the first time we’ve seen so many planes bombing in a single day,” said a resident of Theahpyu Village in Tanintharyi Township.

KNLA frontline sources also reported that on November 15, the day after Mawdaung fell, the junta launched a heavy air campaign using both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

Fighting between the junta and the KNU-PDF coalition raged for an entire day starting on the morning of November 15 in Theinkhun and Thaephyu villages in Tanintharyi Township, along the route from Bokepyin Township to Mawdaung in Tanintharyi Region. On that day, two Y-12 utility aircraft and three Mi-17 helicopters took off from Myeik in Tanintharyi Region and carried out airstrikes on resistance positions throughout the day to support junta ground troops.

The junta had to bypass Theinkhun Village, so it relied heavily on air transport to deploy reinforcements into Thaephyu Village. The aircraft and helicopters used for these deployments were the same ones involved in carrying out airstrikes.

Each Mi-17 helicopter can carry about 30 troops, and all three flew several rounds to ferry soldiers. Likewise, paratroopers from the two Y-12s were also deployed by jumping down around Thaephyu Village.

In Tanintharyi Region, Mawdaung can be reached via side routes branching east from the section of the Union Highway connecting Tanintharyi and Bokepyin towns. These routes are controlled by resistance forces, so the junta faced challenges in its ground assaults and relied heavily on air support for troop deployments.

As fighting intensified this month, residents of Theinkhun, Thaephyu, and other nearby villages have been fleeing to safer areas.

Mawdaung is located roughly 47 miles east of the Bokepyin–Tanintharyi section of the Union Highway.

The junta launched a military operation in late December 2024 to neutralize resistance forces around the town but failed to overcome the KNLA-led resistance. Now, after Mawdaung Town was captured by the KNLA-PDF alliance, the junta is attempting another offensive, heavily relying on air superiority.