Myanmar’s military retakes a strategic town 2 years after the resistance captured it

Army soldiers pose in front of the sign for the town of Demoso in Myanmar's eastern state of Kayah, which the military government claimed to have recaptured from resistance forces on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025 (Myanmar Military via AP)

BANGKOK — Myanmar ‘s military has regained control of a strategic town in eastern Kayah state from the opposition’s armed forces after nearly two years, state media reported Wednesday.

The recapture of Demoso in Kayah state — also known as Karenni — came as the military has stepped up activity in recent months, on the ground and with airstrikes, to retake areas controlled by the resistance ahead of elections it has promised to hold on Dec. 28.

Demoso, located about 110 kilometres (70 miles) east of the capital Naypyitaw, has been a focal point for Myanmar’s civil war since the military took power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The town had been under the control of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, or KNDF, and allied resistance forces in Kayah since the groups launched joint offensives against army bases in the state in November 2023.

A report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Wednesday said Demoso, near the state’s capital of Loikow, was captured by the army on Tuesday after 16 days of operations to retake it.

The report said six bodies and five weapons were seized, adding that some members of the security forces were also killed. The newspaper published photos of soldiers who recaptured the town in front of the hospital, fire department and town hall.

The KNDF and other local resistance groups did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement posted Monday on Facebook, the KNDF accused the military of carrying out unlawful arrests of civilians, deliberate shootings and killings without cause and the use of civilians as human shields in attacking Demoso.

Kayah, the smallest of Myanmar’s seven states and dominated by the Karenni ethnic minority, has experienced intense conflict.

The provisional government formed by resistance groups in Kayah, including the KNDF, said Monday that at least 32 civilians were killed, five were wounded and several were missing after the military on Sunday bombed a hospital in the town of Mawchi, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Demoso.

In a separate incident, an airstrike killed at least 21 people Thursday in the town of Mogok, the center of the Southeast Asian country’s gem mining industry, according to reports in Myanmar’s independent online media.

The army has not mentioned the strikes and usually says it only attacks legitimate targets of war, accusing the resistance forces of being terrorists.

The Associated Press