After enduring days of intense airstrikes, resistance groups were finally forced to withdraw from Dor Ngan Khar ward in Demawso town, Karenni State.

According to the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Burma Army (BA) attacked its military wing, the Karenni Army, and the other resistance fighters simultaneously with airstrikes and ground troops throughout the day on Sunday 13 March. KNPP first secretary Khu Daniel said that when the enemy reached their makeshift camp in Dor Ngan Khar, they left the area.

An officer from KNDF Battalion 1 said the fighting started at 4am when the junta fired 60mm, 120mm and multiple launch rocket systems, resulting in casualties among the resistance fighters. On the same day, KNDF Battalion 9 set up a roadblock between the Loikaw to Demawso road and told villagers to avoid the road.

Khu Daniel said the shelling hit people's houses, but as everyone had already fled, there were no civilian injuries. “They deliberately attacked villages during an escalation of fighting in the area,” Khu Daniel said, targeting KA, KNDF, the People's Defence Forces and the Karenni Generation Z.

“They have used excessive force and we are outgunned... We cannot match their artillery and fighter jets,” he said, explaining the reason for the withdrawal.

The regime's forces have been shelling resistance groups and civilians for the past 20 days after capturing Mobye in southern Shan State and then moving troops to Nam Maekhong in Karenni State. Khu Daniel said the junta currently controlled half of Demawso town in the township of the same name.

According to the KNDF, at least 40 buildings, including several churches, were destroyed by shelling and several civilians were killed in airstrikes in March. Many Karenni villagers have fled several times to escape the advancing regime troops.