An ethnic minority rebel force that recently ended a five-month ceasefire with the military said on Thursday it had captured 26 junta-occupied camps in two days of fighting in northeast Myanmar’s Shan state.
The Ta'ang National Liberation Army, one of three forces in the Three Brotherhood Alliance that launched Operation 1027 in October, resumed fighting across northern Shan state and Mandalay regions on Tuesday.
In January, Chinese officials brokered a ceasefire between the three allied armies and junta forces as the fighting began to pose a risk to Chinese economic interests across the country.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, captured camps in northern Shan state’s Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Mongmit and Hsipaw townships and Mandalay region’s Mogoke township, the group said in two statements.
Seventeen junta soldiers under the Kyaukme-based Operations Command Headquarters surrendered on Wednesday and the fighting was still going on, said TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo.
“We’re still taking control of some of the camps. I’m not sure what the next step is because fighting is still fierce in those townships,” she said. “The military council is using heavy artillery and air strikes.”
The TNLA, along with allied militias of pro-democracy activists called People’s Defense Forces, have captured eight army camps, including one artillery position, in Kyaukme township, 13 camps in Nawnghkio township and five camps in Mogoke township. Twenty junta troops had been killed but the TNLA did not disclose any casualties among anti-junta forces.
On Thursday morning, the TNLA and its allies launched attacks on two junta infantry battalions in the ruby-mining Mogoke township, the TNLA said. Allied fighters came from People’s Defense Force-Mandalay, the Danu People’s Defense Force and the Northern Shan State Alliance Army.
One resident of Mogoke town told Radio Free Asia that fighting erupted on Wednesday evening when junta forces launched at least seven air attacks on the outskirts of the town at around 8:30 p.m.
“Houses were shaking when they bombed the villages,” said the resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. “Bombs also landed in some city neighborhoods. The plane flew above us over and over again, dropping bombs for about 45 minutes. No one dared to go outside.”
Some residents were wounded in the airstrikes, he said, adding that many people were facing food shortages due to the closure of shops.
Many civilians in Kyaukme township have fled because of the conflict, said another resident, adding that four civilians were killed and at least 10 were wounded in airstrikes on Wednesday.
“We heard the sound of shots fired from junta camps 501 and 502,” said the second resident, who also declined to be identified. “People have started to move. The fighting isn’t over.”
The junta has not released any information about the conflict. Calls to the military’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered on Thursday.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.