Fighting in the Lay Kay Kaw area south of Myawaddy, Karen State has intensified as Karen soldiers launched a counter-attack on Burma Army positions.

On Wednesday, 16th February, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and its allies attacked Burma Army positions in the Palu area, including an artillery launching pad on a hilltop overlooking Palu Lay village.

The Burma Army in response launched airstrikes and heavy artillery bombardments into the battle zone.

A KNLA Joint Forces Officer, Captain Saw Da Baw, based in the Lay Kay Kaw area said.

“They (Burma Army) blocked people living in the (Palu) area from working their cornfields and the Burma Army restricted their travel. Locals told us they could not go to their cornfields and tend their crops.”

Captain Saw Da Baw said without access to their farms and crops people couldn’t earn a living.

“We thought this wasn’t good for local people, so we launched our attacks to clear the Burma Army out.”

It is reported KNLA troops took the Burma Army and its Border Guard Force (BGF) militia’s, hilltop artillery bases in the Palu Gyi and Palu Lay areas.