The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) -led joint forces captured the Junta's 27-year-old Aungtharwara (Weituyay) military base in Leimular (Tanintharyi) township, Myeik-Dawei District, where the 4th Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU) operates. During the battle all the Junta troops stationed at the base were killed.

KNLA-led joint forces attacked the base, where 50 troops were firmly deployed, for almost two months. Eventually, the base fell to KNLA, with every last Junta soldier killed, according to KNU’s Myeik-Dawei District Secretary Padoh Saw Eh Nar.

"We have captured the entire base and seized various weapons, including 120 mm artillery, though the exact list is not yet confirmed. About 50 junta troops were stationed there, and we have wiped them all out. After a two month- long offensive, we successfully captured the base”, he said.

After losing the base, the Junta retaliated by bombing a hospital operated by KNLA’s 7th Battalion with a fighter jet. Padoh Saw Eh Nar added.”soon after we captured the base, the Junta bombed the battalion hospital, killing a nurse and another woman. The hospital and Aungtharwara base are not close. Even if we voyaged by ferry, it takes about two hours”, he told KIC.

The operation to seize the Junta base was a joint effort involving KNLA's 7th Battalion, Brigade's Battalion, and the People's Defense Force (PDF).

The Aungtharwara base, situated near the Tanintharyi River, had been stationed by the Junta since 1997. The base was manned by troops from the Junta's 285th Infantry Battalion when it was seized by KNLA.