MYAWADDY - A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the rebels had this month wrested the key trading post, an official said on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Karen National Union (KNU) said the "temporary retreat" from the town of Myawaddy came after the return of junta soldiers to the vital strategic area that is a conduit for annual foreign trade of more than US$1 billion.
"KNLA troops will ... destroy the junta troops and their back-up troops who marched to Myawaddy," Saw Taw Nee told Reuters, referring to the group's armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic fighting forces.
According to sources, the Karen National Army (KNA), formerly the Border Guard Force (BGF), resumed its support for Myanmar government troops on Wednesday, leading to their reoccupation of the 275th infantry battalion in Myawaddy. They replaced a flag of the KNU with a Myanmar national flag and were awaiting reinforcements.
The Myanmar national flag was raised at the 275th infantry battalion on Wednesday. (Photo supplied)
Spokesman for Thailand's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Nikorndej Balankura, said unrest on the Myanmar side has eased but needs to be monitored closely as conditions there remained uncertain.
"Most of the refugees have returned and that reflects that the situation is not getting more violent ... we see that things are more peaceful," Mr Nikorndej said.
According to reports on Wednesday morning, the number of Myanmar refugees in the Mae Sot district of Tak province dropped from 1,000 to about 700.
Mr Nikorndej said Thailand hoped to be able to reopen the Mae Sot border, as trade had been affected significantly by fighting between the military government and anti-junta rebels.
He added that the ministry had proposed to Asean chair Laos the holding of a meeting with key Southeast Asian countries aimed at resolving the crisis in military-ruled Myanmar.
Thailand circulated a proposal for Malaysia, Laos and Indonesia, to meet to address the long-running conflict, he said, adding that the meeting could be held in Thailand and "any Asean member may join".
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Fighting had flared as recently as Saturday in Myawaddy, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a border bridge crossing.
Many of those civilians have since returned, the Thai government has said, adding that it had also urged Myanmar to keep the fighting from spilling across the border.
Photographs posted on some pro-junta social media groups showed a handful of soldiers raising the Myanmar flag at a military base the KNU had controlled just days before, and where the rebel group had raised its own banner.
The junta, which has mounted a counter-offensive to retake Myawaddy, was able to enter the area with the help of a regional militia that had stood aside when the KNU laid siege to Myawaddy early in April, according to Saw Taw Nee.
Officials from the KNA and the junta did not respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment.
Three years after its coup ousted a democratically-elected civilian government, Myanmar's junta is under unprecedented pressure, having lost control of a string of key frontier areas to rebel groups.