There was fighting between the newly formed Kawthoolei Army and junta troops in Shwe Aye Myaing Village, near the Ukrihta military outpost, in Karen State's Myawaddy District at 4:00 p.m. on 27 July.

When the junta troops tried to launch an offensive against Shwe Aye Myaing Village from Ukrihta military outpost they were met by the Kawthoolei Army's Venom Column.

'We started shooting with two RPGs. We don't know how many [junta] casualties there were. The junta soldiers stepped on mines. A company commander and a soldier from the junta forces were hit', said the Venom Column commander, Saw Win Myint.

On 26 June a joint force of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and other people's defence force (PDF) units seized the Ukhrita military outpost from the junta and held it for seven days before having to relinquish it as the junta unleashed airstrikes against the defence forces, according to Saw Win Myint, who also said that nearly 200 junta troops had been killed fighting over Ukhrita outpost.

The Kawthoolei Army was formed on 19 July against the wishes of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) by former KNDO commander-in-chief Saw Nerdah Mya, who was expelled from the KNU for the part he and men under his command played in the murder of 25 construction workers in May 2021.