Ethnic guerrillas in Myanmar look set to seize an important town on the Thai border from military
By GRANT PECK
Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority are claiming to be close to seizing control of a major trading town bordering Thailand. Soldiers and civil servants loyal to the military government appear to be preparing to abandon their positions. A spokesperson and members of the Karen National Union said Monday that their occupation of Myawaddy town appears imminent after the guerrillas seized or besieged strategic army outposts on the town’s outskirts. Myawaddy is Myanmar’s most active trading post with Thailand, and its fall would be the latest in a series of shock defeats recently suffered by the army since it seized power from a democratically elected government in 2021.