State media announced on Tuesday that the Myanmar military successfully took control of a key resistance command center and 10 additional outposts in the southern part of the nation.
This loss of jungle-based positions near the boundary of the Bago region and Mon state represents the most recent defeat for ethnic militias and pro-democracy fighters opposing the army.
Although these reports remain unverified by independent sources due to the military’s restrictions on media access to the region, the narrative has gone uncontested.
Since taking power in April after contentious elections held earlier this year, the military-supported administration has intensified its ground presence and aerial bombardments. The goal is to reclaim territories held by ethnic militias and the People’s Defense Force—the military branch of the primary opposition National Unity Government—both of which have campaigned against the central government for decades to secure greater autonomy.
Following the army’s ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021, the PDF was established and has subsequently entered into informal partnerships with ethnic militias opposed to the military.
According to an article published Tuesday in the government-controlled Myanma Alinn newspaper, the military secured 11 jungle bases located on the border of Mon and Bago during a six-day mission that commenced seven days prior.
Among the sites seized were a battalion headquarters belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army (the armed wing of the major Karen ethnic insurgent group, the Karen National Union) and the NUG’s special region command headquarters.
The paper published photos showing soldiers who captured the bases alongside ammunition seized during the operation.
The newspaper stated that the military confiscated computers, drones, vehicles, ammunition supplies, and small arms following four separate skirmishes, noting that the army plans to maintain security operations in the area.
The NUG and KNU did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Located roughly 120 kilometers northeast of Yangon—the nation’s largest urban center—these territories have endured severe fighting following the 2021 military coup, which served as a catalyst for mass public protests. Government security forces’ brutal crackdown on these protests sparked an armed rebellion, resulting in civil war.
In an earlier post on social media, the NUG’s special region command headquarters detailed its forces, which included six defense and combat units, seven drones paired with specialized support teams, and 12 PDF battalions. The statement further noted that the group was carrying out military missions throughout the Bago region and the southern states of Mon and Kayin. Kayin state is also known as Karen state.
A separate NUG headquarters announcement from late September reported that a communications facility was struck by two fighter jets, an attack that resulted in the deaths of five personnel, one of whom was a former military defector.
