Junta column faces strong resistance en route to Hpapun tactical base

A 2,000-strong junta column is battling its way towards Hpapun to reinforce encircled troops at the tactical command base south of the town. . . A 2,000-strong junta column is battling its way towards Hpapun to reinforce encircled troops at the tactical command base south of the town. The column was dispatched to reinforce about 100 junta troops who are encircled at the tactical command base in Hpapun (also known as Chaungmya), in eastern Karen State, resistance forces said. Hpapun is one of the main strongholds of the junta in Karen State, and has been a site of intense fighting between ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) since the February 2021 coup. According to resistance forces, the junta column has faced ambushes and artillery attacks from combined forces of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and PDFs at multiple points along the main road leading to Hpapun, Highway 3. “They are struggling to advance. We have laid mines and ambushed them at every turn,” a spokesperson for the KNLA told Myanmar Now. Resistance forces added that the junta column’s arrival in Hpapun has been delayed due to the heavy resistance it is facing in the area. A junta spokesperson refused to comment on the matter.