The deteriorating situation in Myawaddy is adding to pressure on the generals who seized power in a 2021 coup.
Amid persistent attacks by anti-coup forces, about 200 Myanmar soldiers retreated to the so-called Friendship Bridge, which connects the country with the Thai border town of Myawaddy.
The withdrawal is another sign of the increasing pressure facing the generals, who seized power in a February 2021 coup that led to a revolt against their rule.
The Karen National Union (KNU), the ethnic armed group that led the attack on Myawaddy, said in a statement on Facebook that its forces defeated the town's main remaining force, the 275th Battalion, in the early hours of the 26th. Thursday morning.
KNU spokesperson Soe Taw Nyi told Reuters that about 200 soldiers had gathered at the bridge, while Myanmar news agency Kit Thit reported whether Thai authorities would allow the soldiers to evacuate. The report said it is consulting with soldiers to make a decision.
Myawaddy is a strategically important town located just across the border from Mae Sot in Thailand. Television footage from the Thai side of the border showed plumes of black smoke rising.
Pressure has been mounting on the generals since October, when an attack by a powerful alliance of ethnic armed groups reinvigorated the rebels and sparked large-scale clashes across the country. The army lost control of hundreds of military posts and several towns in the border area.
About 600 Myanmar soldiers and their families fled Myawaddy over the weekend after the military reportedly requested permission from Thailand to allow them to enter the country on a safe plane.
At least 2,000 people have been displaced inside Myanmar due to the recent escalation in fighting, according to the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group.
State media has not reported on the escalating conflict on the eastern border.
The state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar published photos of recruits beginning training after the military activated a long-dormant conscription law in February.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the military of forcibly recruiting more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslim men and boys from across Rakhine State since February.
Shayna Bauchner, Asia Researcher at HRW, said in a statement on Tuesday: “After decades of atrocities against the Rohingya people, Myanmar's military has denied them citizenship and is now replacing them. It's horrifying to see them being forced to fight.”
“The junta should immediately stop this forced recruitment and allow the illegally recruited Rohingya to return home.”
