Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.
Myanmar’s military has recaptured some camps previously controlled by ethnic rebels in northeastern Shan state nearly eight months of fighting, sources familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The junta that seized power in a February 2021 coup has been under major pressure from its insurgent enemies over the past year losing large areas of territory, military bases and major towns.
The military has repeatedly called for talks over the past few months while at the same time unleashing its air force in devastating attacks on insurgents and the towns and villages they control, killing numerous civilians, rights group says.
On Wednesday, sources told RFA Burmese that late last month, junta troops recaptured camps previously controlled by the ethnic Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, and its allies in Nawnghkio’s Tawng Hkam village, on the border with neighboring Mandalay region.
The TNLA overran the camps ’s Nawnghkio township in June as part of Operation 1027, an offensive named for its Oct. 27, 2023, start date and launched by the Three Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armies, and the junta had been fighting to reclaim them ever since.
The alliance has gone on to push back the military from several regions in Shan state it controlled following the 2021 coup, including along northeastern Myanmar’s border with China.
A source with knowledge of the situation in Nawnghkio, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that the TNLA had to “relinquish” some of the camps “due to the junta’s intensifying offensives, in line with military strategy.”
After ceasefire talks between the TNLA and the junta in Kunming, China, ended unsuccessfully on Feb. 16, the junta intensified its offensives, launching more ground attacks and airstrikes near Tawng Hkam village.
Line of communication reestablished
Captain Zin Yaw, a former military officer who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement of public servants who have left their jobs to protest the coup, echoed the assessment of the situation by RFA’s source.
“The TNLA and some allies had to abandon camps in Tawng Hkam village,” he said. “Now, the junta has regained control of their line of communication as the TNLA and allied groups have retreated to the west.”
Zin Yaw said he expects that the junta will deploy reinforcements and use Tawng Hkam as a base from which to attack the town of Nawnghkio, which lies approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) away.
When asked about the loss of the camps, TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo, told RFA that “clashes are intensifying between the junta troops and our forces in the villages of Tawng Hkam and [nearby] Taung Shey,” but provided no further information.
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for more information about the situation went unanswered Wednesday.
Drones key to recapture
Another former military officer, who also declined to be named, said he believes the junta was able to recapture the bases after adding more drones to its arsenal.
“The military has deployed approximately 35,000 to 40,000 troops in the Tawng Hkam battles,” he said. “However, it has increasingly relied on drone strikes to support its ground troops. Drone attacks played a crucial role in the battles.”
Some rebel fighters also told RFA that the junta has increasingly used Chinese-made drones in clashes with the armed opposition.
Military and political analysts said that it remains to be seen whether anti-junta forces would be able to hold Nawnghkio, as the military increases its use of airstrikes and drone attacks.
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.