Shwe Kokko Offensive
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Shwe Kokko, a town in the Thai border area of Myawaddy District, serves as the headquarters of Saw Chit Thu's Karen BGF.
Overtime, it gained notoriety as a gambling hotspot for Chinese tourists, a scam center, and a destination for human trafficking.
Kawthoolei Army
On 17 July 2022, ousted KNDO commander-in-chief, Nerdah Myah, formed the Kawthoolei Army to fight the Myanmar SAC junta independently. According to Karen media, he formed the group after allegedly obstructing an investigation related to a massacre of 25 unarmed civilians.
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Offensive
In spite of animosity, KNLA Brigade 5, the Kawthoolei Army, a rogue faction of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, and the People's Defense Force jointly launched attacks on Myanmar Army and BGF positions near Shwe Kokko. Initially, the attacks went somewhat smoothly, resulting in the capture of at least five BGF outposts.
However, starting in April 8th, the offensive began to falter as Myanmar Army Mi-35 helicopters started to bomb anti-junta positions.
Aftermath
By April 11th, the BGF fully regained control of Shwe Kokko. At least 10,000 civilians of various nationalities fled to Thailand. Allegedly, some KNLA commanders (such as the leader of Brigade 7) aided the BGF in exchange for profits from another Myawaddy fraud factory, KK Park. Although Brigade 7 denied this charge, it announced that KTLA forces are forbidden from moving within their operational area.
While Shwe Kokko did not face another attack, the Three Brotherhood Alliance and other anti-junta forces successfully crippled scam operations in the Kokang Region as part of Operation 1027 six months later.