The junta is stockpiling many drones to use them in an offensive designed to retake control of the Karen State section of the Asia Highway 1 (AH1) connecting Myawaddy with Kawkareik Township.
The junta will use them as part of Operation Aung Zay Ya, its offensive to retake the section of AH1 that connects Myawaddy Town on the border with Thailand to Kawkareik Town.
According to sources, the junta has been stockpiling hundreds of Turkish-made drones at its Military Operations Command 12 (MOC 12) and the Infantry Battalion (IB) 97 base in Kawkareik Town; the battalion bases in the towns of Nabu and Kyondoe in Kawkareik Township; and the Shwe Kyet Min Monastery compound, which serves as the forward command post for Operation Aung Zay Ya.
A Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) frontline source said to KIC: “We've received intel that around 800 Turkish-made drones have been deployed to junta positions in Kawkareik. In addition to IB 97, the junta has sent these drones to units in Kyondoe, Nabu, and at Shwe Kyet Min. Even now, drones are already flying from these locations day and night, dropping grenades and conducting reconnaissance flights. Daily fighting between the KNLA-led coalition and the junta is ongoing around Tatanku and Htanpinkone villages, and near Shwe Kyet Min.”
Despite fighting escalating along AH1 between Myawaddy and Kawkareik towns the junta and it ally, the Karen Border guard Force (BGF) managed to retrieve about 10 junta military vehicles that were badly damaged by the KNLA and its allies and move them from the road to its military base in Kyondoe Town.
The junta then took them to Hpa-An where they will try to repair them so that they can re-use them as the junta no longer has enough working military vehicles following defeats to revolutionary forces throughout the country.
A resident of Kyondoe Town who witnessed the junta transporting the destroyed vehicles said: “The junta transported the destroyed vehicles to Hpa-An, with Maung Win Aung's [Karen] BGF faction providing a security escort. The vehicles were towed across the Gyaing River Bridge and then transported to Hpa-An. The [Karen] BGF also escorted columns from the junta's Kyondoe-based Light Infantry Battalions 545 and 546 to Kawkareik. The escort began at Inngyi Village in Kawkareik Township and continued through to Kawkareik Town, with [Karen] BGF vehicles positioned at both the front and rear of the columns throughout the journey.”
In response to the junta’s stockpiling of drones, the KNLA-led coalition has been preparing counter-drone measures and is trying to effectively disrupt the movement of junta forces in the area, according to KNLA sources.
Military tensions were still very high between the junta and the KNLA-led coalition in Kawkareik Township, as of 25 February 2025.
