In a major setback for Myanmarโs military, Karenni resistance forces have reportedly wiped out almost the entire 80th Infantry Battalion of the juntaโs 66th Infantry Division during fierce clashes near Linh Phon village in Loikaw Township, Karenni State.
The confrontation occurred over two days, on November 25 and 26, when junta forces attempted to advance into the area. However, resistance groups successfully ambushed the advancing junta forces, dealing severe losses. Colonel Phone Naing of the Karenni Army (KA) confirmed that the attack resulted in the destruction of nearly the entire battalion.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ,โ Colonel Phone Naing explained.
The battle resulted in the capture of 25 weapons from the junta forces, and Colonel Phone Naing mentioned that the military retaliated with indiscriminate heavy artillery fire, a typical reaction following their losses.
Sources also suggest that the junta may have suffered heavy casualties, as the fighting erupted while they were attempting to launch an offensive in Karenni State after bolstering their forces via Pinlaung Township. Reports indicate that six military vehicles were dispatched from Pinlaung to reinforce following the major losses.
Preliminary reports suggest that nearly the entire Battalion 80, including its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lin Zaw, was killed in the fighting.
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