A junta aircraft bombed Hteekhee Village, part of the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 4’s territory, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee into Thailand, according to KNU.
The KNU’s Brigade 4 primarily operates in the Myeik-Dawei District, Myanmar’s southernmost region. Hteekhee Village, struck by the junta’s airstrike, is located in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region, near the Thai border.
At around 9:00 am on September 8, a junta Y-12 utility aircraft circled over Hteekhee Village, conducting 10 bombing runs and dropping more than 40 120mm grenades.
“The junta dropped bombs near the Thai border, destroying many villagers’ homes, shops, and workshops,” Padoh Saw Eh Na, the KNU secretary for Myeik-Dawei District, told IMNA that evening. The junta launched a follow-up airstrike on the area with jet fighters around 1:00 pm the same day, he added.
There were no civilian casualties in the two airstrikes, which involved Y-12 and jet fighters. However, buildings suffered extensive damage, and the full extent is still being assessed, according to Padoh Saw Eh Na.
“The villagers are still taking refuge in Thailand and haven’t dared to return home. The junta carried out this attack deliberately to cause suffering and hardship for them,” he said.
The Hteekhee border trading post, opened in 2013, is part of the KNU’s Brigade 4 territory, but the junta has maintained a presence in the area.
This year, Karen resistance forces captured the Hteekhee border trading post, along with all of the junta’s camps and outposts along the Thai-Myanmar border. Hteekhee Village, home to the border trading post, is near the Thai border and has a population of around 400 people.
“Some locals have already evacuated the village due to regional instability, but a few hundred residents remain. Those involved in border trade are accustomed to moving in and out of the area,” a border trader noted.
Along the Thai-Myanmar border in Dawei District, Nateintaung camp remains the junta’s last foothold. The junta is scrambling to send reinforcements to the camp and regain control of the surrounding areas it has lost.
Frequent battles have erupted between junta columns near the border and Karen resistance forces, with the junta reportedly suffering casualties and having personnel captured as prisoners of war, according to resistance sources.
“The junta is trying to reclaim as much of its lost territory as possible before the elections it’s leading. But even though it has launched operations several times, resistance forces have been able to strategically block its troops, preventing them from advancing. That’s why the junta seems to be relying more on airstrikes,” said a source familiar with the military situation in Tanintharyi Region.
After two airstrikes, the junta has not carried out any further attacks on Hteekhee Village, but the villagers still do not dare to return home.
Although the junta’s air raids have not caused any damage on the Thai side, the Thai military has stepped up border security and is maintaining a vigilant watch, according to Thai media reports.
