Anti-junta fighters push towards northern Shan State’s largest city

Clashes raged continuously this week in northern Shan State as anti-junta fighters assaulted and took temporary control of an army battalion base, pressing closer to the strategically vital town of Lashio, local civilians said. The military reportedly had to resort to airstrikes and heavy shelling to drive back assaults by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and its allies on the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 507 base, located in in the Man Aing village tract less than two miles south of Lashio’s urban centre. One of the MNDAA’s officers claimed the group had taken control of the LIB 507 battalion base and was advancing to take full control of the city. “We seized the LIB 507 base two or three days ago,” the officer said on Thursday. “The battles are taking place closer to Lashio and we will be able to seize full control of the city very soon. The Infantry Battalion 68 base at the centre of town is all they’re still holding.” “We are giving the civilians more time to evacuate, then we’re going to attack the centre after they’re gone,” he added. Local civilians disputed the officer’s account, however, claiming that after the MNDAA took control on Sunday, the military retook the LIB 507 base by carrying out massive, relentless airstrikes and forcing the anti-junta fighters to withdraw. “They flew in jets to drop bombs around the LIB 507 base and fired heavy artillery from the Sin Taung base,” one local civilian said on Wednesday. “They have conducted around six airstrikes by now. They do it on days when the fighting is most intense. They’ve been attacking for more than two days now.” Posts on pro-junta propaganda Telegram channels circulated the claim that regime forces had recaptured the LIB 507 base on Monday, while another Lashio Township resident confirmed that the junta air force had dropped bombs near the base on Wednesday. Lashio is the most populous city in northern Shan State and serves as its administrative centre. The city’s 12 urban wards had over 160,000 inhabitants as of the 2014 census. The city is also home to the junta's Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters, one of 14 command offices at the same tier throughout Myanmar. Securing control of the LIB 507 base will allow anti-junta armed groups to concentrate their forces on Lashio and mount attacks on the Northeastern RMC office and Infantry Battalion (IB) 68 base inside the city. The LIB 522 base—overseen by the military operations command 16 base in Hseni (Hsenwi), northern Shan State—is also located near Lashio. In addition to fighting for the LIB 507 base, the MNDAA also claims to have seized the junta’s IB 291 base with its allies’ support in the Nam Pawng village tract some 14 miles southeast of Lashio’s urban centre. Lashio-based social welfare groups cited accounts from residents of Nam Pawng village saying they were trapped in the crossfire of ongoing clashes near the village and that their food supplies were dwindling. They added that the distressed civilians would be nearly impossible to reach due to the fighting and checkpoints on the road. “The MNDAA has control over Nam Pawng and the people of that area have completely run out of rice to eat and have asked us for help,” a social welfare group volunteer said. “However, we cannot leave Lashio, nor could we get back if we were able to leave; we’d need recommendation letters and other documents. The military has reinforced security around the city to prevent MNDAA troops from infiltrating,” the volunteer added. The MNDAA, also referred to colloquially as the Kokang Army, is an ethnic armed organisation and member of the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army. The Brotherhood Alliance launched a sweeping offensive in October of 2023, dubbed Operation 1027, capturing more than a dozen towns and scores of military bases in northern Shan State from regime forces before a Chinese government-brokered ceasefire brought hostilities to a temporary halt in January. The TNLA announced in late June that the ceasefire was no longer in effect due to violations by the military, and began to take over territory in Mandalay Region and in northern Shan State west of Lashio in what it called a resumption of Operation 1027. The MNDAA was joined by the TNLA in attacking at least four junta bases within 10 miles of Lashio at midnight on July 2, and clashes between the Brotherhood Alliance fighters and military forces have continued in and near the town since then. Civilian casualties, displacement Civilian casualties have been recorded in and near Lashio amid the recent clashes and heavy artillery shelling. As of Monday, more than 20 civilians had been killed by junta shelling in Lashio according to administrative records, but the precise total is unconfirmed at the time of reporting. Locals said that shells have been detonating in Lashio’s residential wards every day, with one blast killing three civilians and injuring 10 in Ward 9. “The junta artillery base in Ward 10 has been firing off heavy shells at the edge of town to scare away the MNDAA fighters,” a Lashio resident said. As the junta deploys reinforcements to the town and fortifies defensive positions in Lashio amid battles that have continued since last week, local aid organisations are warning residents that the fighting is unlikely to subside soon and urging them to evacuate. “The fighting will probably be prolonged. Since Lashio has many entry points, the situation could be difficult,” one Lashio resident said. “We’ve heard the MNDAA has already set up its positions and brought more arms to assault the junta’s IB 68 base on the northeast side of Lashio, closer to Mong Yaw. We don't know yet when they’ll start to attack,” the resident added. A deserted area in Lashio on July 10 (Photo: Freedom Youth Volunteers-FYV) Around a third of Lashio's population has already fled, with evacuations from the town ongoing as of Thursday morning, according to local social welfare groups, who said most of the displaced civilians have headed in the direction of southern Shan State. "Last night we heard small arms fire, so this morning, people continued to leave the town. Many people are fleeing for safety, flying white flags,” an official from a Lashio-based social welfare organisation said on Thursday. “Yesterday, thanks to a donor, we arranged for eight vehicles to move people from Lashio to Taunggyi,” the official added, referring to southern Shan State’s administrative centre. “About seven people were able to fit in each vehicle—more than 60 altogether.” Residents remaining in Lashio said pregnant women could not get the care they needed and that it was hard to find medicine or access treatment after pharmacies and medical facilities closed in the town. "Pregnant women are in a difficult situation. There are no adequate facilities left for delivering babies and there are no OB-GYN doctors. The hospital is closed and there are no doctors to perform surgery,” a resident said. “As of today, all the pharmacies are completely closed. We can't even find Biogesic anymore, it's out of stock. Everything is in extremely short supply.” Some 5,000 people displaced from their homes have remained in Lashio, sheltering in makeshift refugee camps in wards 7 and 8 as well as in about 15 monasteries in and near the city, social welfare organisations said. “In Lashio, there are more than a thousand people staying in the internally displaced people’s camp at an unfinished shopping mall and in an unfinished building behind the Mansu Hotel in Ward 8. Some people come temporarily and then leave when the artillery fire dies down,” a social welfare official said. Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the military council, said on Tuesday that 18 civilian casualties had resulted from the MNDAA’s attacks on Lashio. "On July 3, the MNDAA and its allies began carrying out attacks around Lashio and have been conducting daily attacks on the town using rockets, drones, and drop bombs," the junta spokesperson said. He added that the TNLA, the MNDAA’s ally, was carrying out attacks on security outposts in northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships west of Lashio. The TNLA has also carried out offensive operations in areas of Mandalay Region adjacent to northern Shan State since resuming hostilities with the military in June, with support from anti-junta resistance groups commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government. Lashio is at the intersection of vital routes to trading towns on the China-Myanmar border, most of which are controlled by anti-junta armed groups while a few remain in military hands. While the Brotherhood Alliance and other anti-junta groups have already seized control of most of these border trade hubs, capturing Lashio will likely allow them to capture Muse, one of the few border crossings that remained in the military’s hands after the first wave of Operation 1027.

Anti-junta fighters push towards northern Shan State’s largest city

Civilians fled their homes amid heavy shelling as Brotherhood Alliance fighters reportedly took brief control of a battalion base outside Lashio, northern Shan State’s administrative capital

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