Some junta troops in Shwe Kokko Town, Myawaddy Township, Karen State, have withdrawn from their positions after the junta-aligned Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) broke away from junta command and reformed as the Karen National Army (KNA), raising local fears that fighting could follow.

The BGF announced its transformation into the KNA on January 1. Following the change, the KNA urged Shwe Kokko residents to stay vigilant, warning that clashes are likely in the town, which lies near the Thai border and is firmly under KNA control.

“We’ve packed essentials just in case we need to leave the town. We don’t know what will happen, but we’re ready for anything,” a Shwe Kokko resident said.

Apart from the BGF troops switching to KNA insignia on their uniforms, locals say the situation in Shwe Kokko remains normal.

Other than BGF troops now wearing KNA emblems on their uniforms, life in Shwe Kokko is continuing as usual, locals reported.

The KNA said it transitioned from the BGF to operate more independently in pursuit of Karen nationalist goals, adding that no problems would arise as long as it faced no acts of aggression.

“We changed our emblems to step out of the shadow that’s been over us. Now we can deal with our state and national issues more freely. And if anyone tries to cause trouble, we’ll respond,” KNA officer Colonel Naing Maung Zaw told KIC.

The recent departures from Shwe Kokko involved junta forces previously deployed alongside the BGF. The KNA said they pulled out after being recalled by their commanders.

However, troops from three battalions of Light Infantry Battalion 44 (LID 44), which the junta deployed at the start of its crackdown on telecom scam operations, remain in Shwe Kokko, locals and KNA sources said.