The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) led a combined force of people’s defence forces (PDFs) that took control of the the Phaya Thone Zu military outpost in Karen State and killed a senior junta officer.

The combined defence forces attacked the outpost in Phaya Thone Zu Township, an area of Karen State controlled by KNLA Brigade 6, at 5:50 a.m. on 28 September. 11 junta soldiers were killed in the attack. The dead included the second in command of the junta battalion manning the outpost, Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 283.

Captain Sa Tee, the platoon commander of the KNLA’s 16th Battalion which was involved in the attack said: "Junta troops were stationed at Phayar Thone Zu pagoda hill. It was difficult for the local villagers to travel. As the outpost is located in a pagoda compound… people cannot go to the pagoda. Because it was causing a disturbance we seized the outpost.”

He also said that the defence forces seized A NATO machine gun, a grenade launcher, a sniper rifle, five MA guns, two 40-mm mortar shells, and other weapons and ammunition.

There is fighting and the junta launches airstrikes in the townships of Phayar Thone Zu and nearby Kyainseikgyi on an almost daily basis.