Myanmar military and KNU exchange blame over shelling on Thai territory

The Thai defense chief summoned the Myanmar military attaché following repeated explosions on Thai soil (Photo: Royal Thai Army Headquarter Facebook) The junta and the Karen National Union (KNU) both blamed the other for the artillery shelling that exploded on the Thailand side of the border with Karen State last week, according to statements released by the two sides. During heavy fighting along the Thai-Myanmar border on October 29, a rocket-propelled grenade fired across the Moei River from Myawaddy Township exploded in Ban Mae Kon Ken, a village in Thailand’s Mae Sot District, injuring a Thai woman. Shortly after, on October 31, a regime airstrike in Karen State damaged 17 houses in Thailand’s Mae Sam Laep village in Mae Hong Son Province. Thailand’s chief of defense, Gen. Ukrit Boontanon, summoned the Myanmar junta attaché to the Thai Army Headquarters on November 2 to discuss the incidents. The following day, the junta and the KNU released statements claiming the other was responsible for the October 29 explosion. . . Subscribe for full access Myanmar Now's award-winning journalism is made possible by our subscribers. Become one today. Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Log in