Armed conflict has flared across Tanintharyi Township as military regime forces launched a major riverine offensive, forcibly abducting civilians to use as human shields while attempting to resupply trapped frontline battalions.
The junta operation aims to push down the Tanintharyi River to deliver logistics to Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 561, stationed in Nyaungpinkwin Village south of the waterway.
As troops advanced, engaging resistance positions along the route, they seized residents to act as human shields against retaliatory attacks.
"The junta is carrying out an operation to send supplies to its troops downstream," a local villager told NMG. "Along the way, the soldiers are nabbing civilians from villages they pass through and using them as human shields. Right now, there are fierce clashes. People from at least nine villages in the area are fleeing to safety."
Fearing heavy collateral damage and forced conscription, the Myeik District People’s Defence Force (PDF) Battalion 3 issued urgent evacuation advisories for residents across at least nine exposed communities, including Bawdikan, Banlin, Ngarmaing, and Taungbi.
The renewed violence follows a surprise August 24 raid by the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) on junta positions in Myeik Township’s Tonebyaw Village, which forced regime troops to flee and netted resistance fighters four captured firearms.
Tanintharyi Township—anchored by LIB 557, 558, and 561 under Military Operations Command 13 (MOC 13)—remains a volatile flashpoint.
With ground columns pushing through civilian settlements and river routes, resistance commands have warned populations along the Tanintharyi River corridor to remain on high alert for further escalation.
