Thailand granted permission to the Myanmar junta on April 7 to run a special flight evacuating its personnel after hundreds of troops near the strategic Myanmar border trading hub of Myawaddy surrendered to resistance forces.
The losses in Myanmar's Kayin state are the latest in a string of defeats since October 2023 that forced the military regime - which seized power through a 2021 coup - to cede control in key border areas such as Rakhine state and Shan state.
The Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed organisation that operates by the Thai border, said in a Facebook post on April 6 that more than 600 of the junta's military officers and their family members in a large base surrendered after it was overrun by KNU and allied fighters.
The Thai government confirmed on April 8 that it had received a request from the Myanmar junta-run foreign ministry to approve three special flights from April 7 to 9 between Yangon and Mae Sot - the Thai town next to Myawaddy - to "transport passengers and cargo".
It did not specify the type of passengers and cargo to be conveyed.
This story is from the April 09, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the April 09, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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