Most of the State Administration Council (SAC) cannot function in Karenni State, said the spokesperson for the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), which has been embroiled in a conflict with the military for several months after the democratic government was toppled a year ago and SAC put in its place.

The KNDF spokesperson estimates that the regime controls only 10 per cent of the Southeast Asian country’s smallest state, where Burma Army (BA) offensives and fighting with resistance groups have displaced over 170,000 of its 300,000 residents.

Of the state’s seven townships, only Bawlakhe Township allows the regime to retain control of health and education services. More than 700 villages have fled the fighting, but in 400 villages the civil resistance group and the residents themselves provide health care and education for the children who live there.

”Civilian rule has started in these villages,” said the spokesperson, and the KNDF is committed to helping them with these social services. He said they’ve 6,277 members and 18 battalions. Police officers who left their posts after the military coup formed the Karenni State Police last August.

The KNDF claims to have killed 440 regime fighters in numerous engagements and ambushes since it took up arms in May last year, without mentioning how many civilian fighters were killed.

It’s not possible for the Kantarawaddy Times to confirm these losses.