Allied Kokang, Ta’ang armies to discuss ceasefire following clashes

The leaders of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) are set to meet on Tuesday in a bid to ease tensions that erupted into major clashes over the weekend, according to sources. The meeting between the two groups, which joined forces to launch a major offensive against Myanmar’s military in late 2023, will take place in Laukkai, the MNDAA-controlled capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, the sources said. The move comes as hostilities between the allies came to a head on Saturday, when the MNDAA, also known as the Kokang Army, launched an offensive to seize the town of Kutkai from the TNLA. The MNDAA successfully captured the town, located on the main highway connecting Mandalay to the Chinese border, late Sunday. Lway Yay Oo, a spokesperson for the TNLA, said that fighting had ended by Monday evening, with the two sides now preparing to hold talks aimed at preventing further clashes. “Currently, leaders from both sides are scheduled to hold discussions in Laukkai. We hope to achieve a ceasefire. The fighting has calmed down,” she said, adding that members of the TNLA’s central committee were taking part in the talks. In addition to Kutkai, the MNDAA has also attacked TNLA positions near the Muse (105-Mile) Trade Zone and the Kyin San Kyawt border gate—both vital for cross-border trade with China—and TNLA camps in Nam Hpat Kar, a village about halfway between Kutkai and the border. The MNDAA reportedly has nearly 100 TNLA members in its custody. However, locals say that the MNDAA withdrew its troops stationed near Namkham, a TNLA-controlled town on the Chinese border, late Monday. Residents also told Myanmar Now that the MNDAA has reopened the road between Kutkai and Hsenwi, which it closed last week as part of a blockade targeting towns under TNLA control. “Travel on the Kutkai-Hsenwi road is back to normal. People are travelling normally as far as Muse. The Kokang side has allowed goods to be transported again,” a Hsenwi resident said. The current dispute began last month, when the TNLA closed MNDAA offices in Kutkai—which was under their joint administration—over the Kokang group’s installation of security cameras. In response, the MNDAA surrounded Kutkai and cut off all shipments of food, medicine, and fuel to the town from China. A month later, on March 14, the MNDAA launched a multi-directional assault and seized the town. Both sides have issued statements claiming they were the ones initially being attacked. The TNLA also said it would continue to seek an end to this conflict through negotiations. Other groups have also called on the two sides to settle their differences through dialogue. Resistance coalitions, including the National Unity Consultative Council, the Spring Revolution Alliance, and groups representing teachers and healthcare workers in the Civil Disobedience Movement, as well as Ta’ang civil society groups, have all urged a negotiated end to the conflict. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which also maintains a presence in Kutkai, has not made any public statements on the situation. “I have no comment. Neither of the two groups has informed us of anything. The KIA has not intervened or participated in any talks,” KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told Myanmar Now on Tuesday. Kutkai is one of 12 towns captured by the TNLA during Operation 1027, the anti-regime offensive launched by the Brotherhood Alliance—comprising the TNLA, the MNDAA, and the Arakan Army—in October 2023. It seized Kutkai, Namtu, Namkham, Namhsan, Mantong, Monglon, and Mongngawt during the first phase of the offensive, and Momeik, Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, and Hsipaw, as well as Mogok in Mandalay Region, in the second phase, which began in June 2024. Throughout the entire operation, the MNDAA took control of 10 towns. With the current seizure of Kutkai, the group now controls most of the routes vital for border trade with China. Due to the junta’s counteroffensives and pressure from China, the TNLA lost Mogok, Momeik, Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, and Hsipaw over the past year, and the MNDAA returned Lashio to the junta. Only six towns remain under TNLA control: Namtu, Namkham, Namhsan, Mantong, Mongngawt, and Monglon.

Allied Kokang, Ta’ang armies to discuss ceasefire following clashes

Tensions between the two groups came to head over the weekend, with the Kokang MNDAA taking full control of Kutkai

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