An ethnic rebel group said it had recaptured its headquarters from the Myanmar military, almost 30 years after it was forced out.
Karen National Union (KNU) fighters had seized Manerplaw on the Thai border following days of fighting, KNU leader Saw Thamain Tun said.
Myanmar junta troops “still want to take it back and they used drones and tried to bomb our troops,” he said.
“But, our troops took the base already,” he said on Tuesday.
For years Manerplaw was the headquarters of the KNU’s decades-long armed struggle for rights for the Karen minority and home to other dissident politicians opposing Myanmar’s then-junta.
Following a split within the Christian-majority KNU, the junta and a breakaway Buddhist faction captured the base in 1995, sending thousands fleeing into Thailand.
Manerplaw “was a historical place for the Karen”, said Saw Thamain Tun, with around 100 of its soldiers buried there.
“We need to rebuild the area to pay respect to all of them,” he said. — AFP
