Heavy fighting continues between the Myanmar military junta and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) around Hpalu and Minletpan villages in Karen State's Myawaddy Township, with junta aircraft carrying out heavy airstrikes near the Thai border, including a 500-pound bomb attack that killed a local Buddhist abbot. On the morning of July 28, a junta fighter jet dropped a 500-pound bomb on a pagoda and monastery complex on a hill near Thonhtatkway village, along the Myawaddy–Wawlay Road. The military junta has been conducting a major offensive for nearly a year in an attempt to capture a fortified KNLA position near Minletpan. On July 26, advancing junta forces engaged in heavy fighting with a resistance coalition led by KNLA Brigade 6. Securing that area would allow junta troops to reach Thonhtatkway village on the strategic Myawaddy–Wawlay Road.