Myanmar rebels claim capture of town on road to China

An insurgent group fighting the Myanmar military has captured a northeastern town on a main road to China, seizing the last junta military bases after weeks of fighting, a senior official of the rebel group said on Tuesday.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which is battling the junta that seized power in a 2021 coup across Shan state.  

The group captured the headquarters of two junta battalions and the Operation Command Headquarters No. 1 in Kyaukme, a town on the road between the cities of Mandalay and Lashio on Monday, the TNLA official who wished to remain anonymous told Radio Free Asia. 

He said the TNLA now had complete control of Kyaukme.

RFA tried to contact Shan state’s junta spokesperson, Khun Thein Maung, to ask about the situation in Kyaukme but he did not respond by the time of publication. 

If confirmed, the capture of Kyaukme by the TNLA would be another major setback for the forces of the junta, coming just days after another member of the insurgent alliance captured the headquarters of the military’s Northeast Regional Command in Lashio.

Lashio is about half-way between Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay and the Chinese border.

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Mines and bombs

A Kyaukme resident who witnessed the fighting confirmed that the TNLA had captured the junta’s positions that were defended by trenches, bunkers and mine fields.

“The junta dug trenches around all of the bases, including their Operation Command Headquarters, and built concrete bunkers everywhere,” said the resident, who declined to be identified, in fear of reprisals.

TNLA fighters had used drones to drop bombs on the junta’s defenses, the resident said.

“The whole hill has been turned into a  bunker. The TNLA troops had to first clear mines slowly and the junta had the upper hand.”

Neither the TNLA nor the junta released estimates of casualty figures. 

Kyaukme residents said junta forces had fled to a position about 6 km (4 miles) away.

While some civilians who had fled earlier were returning to their homes, others were staying away in fear of junta airstrikes, said another resident. Junta forces have launched numerous airstrikes in Shan state and elsewhere, inflicting a heavy toll on civilians.

“We can’t hear any shooting and the TNLA have been securing the area,” the resident said. “The morning market is even operating normally. The only thing people are worried about is airstrikes. Everyone is afraid, the whole country is afraid of planes.”

The Three Brotherhood Alliance launched the second round of an offensive begun late last year, codenamed Operation 1027, in June after two China-brokered ceasefires between the junta and rebel groups broke down.  

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.