NAYPYITAW, 05 August 2021, (TON): According to the Karen National Union (KNU) “some 65 Myanmar army soldiers were killed and 101 injured in clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Karen State’s Mutraw (Hpapun) District in the month of July alone.”

Thoolei News, under the KNU’s information department, posted on their Facebook page that a total of 133 battles were fought in the area last month, those injured included a junta battalion commander.

The news outlet said “the commander was wounded during one of the 29 battles fought during the third week of July.”

In the fighting, five homes belonging to villagers were reportedly destroyed. The KNU also reported that the military council was responsible for 25 episodes of artillery fire in civilian areas.  Four civilians also triggered landmine explosions.

Citing Col Saw Kler Doh, spokesperson for the KNLA’s Brigade 5, the territory of which is in Mutraw, local media said that two personnel from the military-allied Border Guard Force surrendered to the KNLA in July, and four light arms were confiscated at that time.

Three KNLA soldiers were also reportedly injured.

The news report stated that the occupying junta troops had stolen livestock from locals, including buffaloes and cows.