The Burma Army helped by Border Guard Force troops (BGF) fought with a Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA)’s splinter group for over two hours in Pyar Pin Village, Kawkareik Township, Karen State at 5am on 11 May.
A BGF major who did not want to be named said that two bombs exploded in the early hours of 11 May, one at 12.45am and the other at 1.55am. At 5.30am the DKBA splinter group, led by Bo Nar Ma, then started firing at the joint Burma Army and BGF forces from a hill near Pyar Pin Village.
According to local residents, the skirmish was between a joint force of Burma Army Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 548 and 549 under the 12th Military Operations Command (MOC-12) supported by BGF Battalions 1016 and 1019 on one side and on the other side the DKBA splinter group led by Bo Nar Ma Kyar.
When contacted by KIC News Captain Ye Htet from the DKBA said: “Bo Nar Ma Kyar went back to his village. I heard about the skirmish after receiving a report from there. I don’t know any details.”
The DKBA were one of eight ethnic armed organisations that signed last year'
The Burma Army’s LIB 547, 548, and 549 and Infantry Battalions (IB) 230 and 231 under MOC-12 and the BGF’s Battalion 1016 and 1017 are active in the territory near the areas where the skirmish broke out.
Neither side has yet released any details about causalities.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
