The military junta has launched a series of airstrikes in recent days targeting Hteekhee, a border area in Dawei District that was earlier seized by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied resistance forces.
According to local sources, on September 8 alone, junta aircraft dropped more than 40 bombs—each about 120 mm in size—on Hteekhee village. The attacks resumed on October 10 and 14, when jet fighters carried out multiple bombings and fired mortar shells into the area.
The air raids have reportedly injured civilians and damaged several homes in and around Hteekhee.
“They’re conducting airstrikes almost nonstop now. They use air power to target areas they can’t reach on the ground. Before advancing, they bomb first to clear the way,” said Padoh Saw Eh Nar, secretary of the KNU’s Myeik–Dawei District.
Due to the ongoing attacks, nearly 400 residents from Hteekhee and nearby villages have fled across the border into Thailand for safety.
Earlier this year, joint resistance forces captured five junta bases along the Thai–Myanmar border, including the Hteekhee military camp and the Hteekhee border trade post. The junta’s recent airstrikes aim to retake control of that strategic trade zone, sources said.
“The Hteekhee border trade post is one of the six official government-to-government trade gates along the Thai–Myanmar border. That’s why the junta is desperate to recapture it through renewed offensives,” said a resistance source.
The junta is also attempting to reinforce and regain control of its remaining outpost at Nat Ein Taung (Ban-I-Tong) on the border.
The KNU stated that the airstrikes are part of a deliberate campaign to instill fear among civilians living in areas no longer under junta control.
Observers noted that the junta has also begun targeting other parts of Tanintharyi Region where no active clashes are taking place, suggesting a wider effort to weaken ethnic armed organizations and resistance forces ahead of its planned election.
