A junta column has been moving along the Yangon–Dawei Highway, a key trade route in Tanintharyi Region, in recent days and has reportedly attacked villages along the way, according to locals.

The 100-strong junta column that departed from the Mahlwe Mountains entered Kywetalin Village along the highway on April 27 and then continued its advance toward Kaleinaung town. During their march, regime soldiers reportedly fired indiscriminately at villages along the highway, including Kywetalin, Tharyarmun, and 60-Mile, using small arms and mortars.

“On May 3, the column made a U-turn and headed back toward the Mahlwe Mountains, reaching near Mayanchaung village that day. The soldiers again opened indiscriminate fire on villages along the roadside as they moved,” said a Mayanchaung villager.

The area between the Mahlwe Mountains and Kaleinaung, where the column is operating, is also a strategically important section of the Yangon–Dawei Highway, a vital route linking Yangon Region and Tanintharyi Region.

There are at least 10 villages along this stretch of road, and concern is growing among local communities over the junta’s arbitrary shooting.

So far, there have been no direct clashes between the column and resistance forces, but its aggressive actions have forced locals to flee their homes.

The junta has also carried out a series of airstrikes on resistance-controlled Mawdaung town, a key border trade area near the Thailand–Tanintharyi Region border.

On May 2, Mawdaung was hit by an airstrike that injured three members of a family, including a two-month-old infant, and destroyed a house by fire.

Amid ongoing clashes on the Myanmar side of the border, the Thai military has also increased security along the frontier.