The Karenni Army (KA) and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) clashed with Tatmadaw troops during a fierce battle lasting last four hours in Hpruso Township, Karenni State.

Two KNDF combatants were killed in the fighting, which began at 5am on 14 September near Kaladah village.

Simonel (also known as Aung Naing), a teacher, and Peter John Saw, a grade 9 student, were killed during Tuesday’s battle. The KNDF wasn’t sure if BA soldiers were also killed in the fighting.

The KNDF spokesperson told Kantarawaddy Times that the civilian resistance group is determined to fight the military until the dictatorship is overthrown.

”Everyone in Karenni State must fight the BA so that we can open a new front line. We don’t have to wait for the military to launch an offensive against us, we have to attack them before they attack us,” he said.

In the last four months, Karenni forces have clashed with the military 65 times.

According to Karenni Civil Society Network, 129,449 people have been displaced since the coup just over eight months ago, and 3,000 since the end of last month. There were 86 people killed and 179 arrested in Karenni State and Pekhon Township in southern Shan State, and 254 buildings and houses have been destroyed.

The KNDF has been fighting with the BA since May. The resistance group, composed mainly of civilians who originally joined the peaceful civil disobedience movement against the regime, now carries out ambushes against the Tatmadaw alongside KA.