We have our weaknesses and so has the enemy. People should look at the fighting in other places. There is a war going on between us and the dictatorship. What is your message about the fighting at Ukayit Hta?

And we will be able to take control of the strategically important hills. They will be trapped if they lose control of that outpost. It is partly because people have requested that we attack the outpost. And we cannot synchronize with our reinforcements and do not have enough weapons and ammunition. Our communication devices are poor and we cannot effectively coordinate with each other in our attacks. The village was isolated by regime soldiers. I could only observe from a distance and could not find out their numbers and how they had prepared. When I inspected, I could not get close to the outpost. He was not able to find out the exact number of troops at the outpost. Our weakness is that someone else decided to attack the outpost. What lessons have you learned from Ukayit Hta? Their weapons are powerful and they have air support and infantry reinforcements. But in Ukayit Hta, they are in defensive positions around the village. But at Ukayit Hta, I think they replaced the original troops with experienced combatants.Īt other outposts that we attacked, they stayed inside. In our previous outposts attacks, soldiers were only from battalions nearby. There were large numbers of heavily armed troops. They were deployed in houses in Ukayit Hta village and a mobile detachment was moving around outside the outpost. What is the difference from other attacks? They know the people do not support them anymore. One said all the soldiers want to leave but they can’t. What have you found out from captured junta soldiers? I don’t think the pilots are from Myanmar as they are highly skilled. But this time they flew low and were able to hit their targets. Previous aerial attacks were inaccurate and the aircraft only flew at high altitudes. How are the airstrikes over Ukayit Hta different from previous raids in the area? Cobra’s commander has checked their casualties with a drone.

The regime suffered around 200 fatalities. We have suffered eight fatalities and around 30 injuries. Our troops surround the outpost and we are discussing what to do next.Ĭan you estimate the casualties on both sides? But the soldiers inside the Ukayit Hta outpost dare not yet come out. We heard deputy junta chief Soe Win is in Hpa-an and that the regime sent more than 1,000 reinforcements. But as reinforcements fought back with close air support, we ran low on ammunition and had to withdraw. Venom commander Major Saw Win Myint recently talked to The Irrawaddy about the fighting. The assault has reportedly endured more than 125 airstrikes. Liberation Army troops and other resistance forces, had to reinforce Venom. Venom suffered heavy casualties on the first day of the attack and the Cobra detachment, which included Karen National. Both sides suffered casualties and the resistance forces were close to seizing the outpost before they were pushed back. The Venom Commando unit of the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) and allied resistance forces launched their attack on Myanmar junta’s Ukayit Hta outpost in Myawaddy Township near the Thai border in Karen State on June 26.

Cobra commander