Anti-junta forces seize missile base in northern Shan State

Anti-junta forces came closer to taking full control of Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State early Wednesday morning, seizing a junta missile battalion base south of the township’s urban centre. Locals said the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) led allied resistance fighters in overrunning the military's Missile Battalion 606 base two miles outside of town at around 3am. The TNLA’s allies include members of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF), the armed wing of the publicly mandated National Unity Government. “Gunfire at the Battalion 606 base had already subsided by dawn, and we heard the TNLA had taken over,” said a local woman. “We were just waiting for good news because there were junta fighter jets attacking all through the night.” Satellite image shows an overhead view of the Missile Battalion 606 base outside of Nawnghkio, northern Shan State, which fell under the control of anti-junta forces on Wednesday (Myanmar Now) Although the military was flying both fighters and transport aircraft into the area until dawn, the troops manning the battalion base ultimately abandoned it and fled, the woman added. A source connected to the military also confirmed to Myanmar Now that the battalion base had fallen under the full control of the TNLA and its allies, which had been carrying out attacks on the outpost since the beginning of July. The Myanmar military established a Missile Directorate in 2019. The directorate oversees two missile operations command headquarters: Command 1 in Mandalay’s Kyaukpadaung Township, Command 2 in Loilem, southern Shan State. The headquarters command a total of 16 missile battalion bases throughout Myanmar, two of which have now fallen to anti-junta fighters. The Kachin Independence Army took over the Missile Battalion 616 base in Momauk Township, Kachin State in March of this year. The TNLA and its allied forces previously seized the military’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 115 base on June 26 and the nearby LIB 114 base a mile west of Nawnghkio’s urban centre on June 27, and have seized at least ten other military and police outposts in the township. With the capture of the Missile Battalion 606 base, the allied forces of the TNLA, Mandalay PDF (MDY-PDF), and Danu People’s Liberation Front have taken full territorial control of Nawnghkio’s urban areas, while some outlying parts of the township are still in military hands. The junta still holds an artillery battalion base 20 miles outside of town on the Nawnghkio-Lawksawk road, and another outpost 15 miles outside of town on the Nawnghkio-Pyin Oo Lwin road. The TNLA, which says it is in the process of establishing an administrative apparatus in Nawnghkio, claims to have detained 60 people in the town on suspicion of looting or serving as military informants. According to one civilian currently staying in Nawnghkio, only some 10 percent of the town’s people are still in their homes, while the rest fled during the fighting and have not returned. Nonetheless, some shops and fruit stalls were open and selling goods as of Wednesday morning, he said. The TNLA announced in late June that it was carrying out the second phase of Operation 1027—a sweeping, coordinated offensive against the Myanmar military initiated by the Brotherhood Alliance in October 2023—after multiple violations of a temporary ceasefire by junta forces. With support from its allies, the Ta’ang armed group took over the town of Nawnghkio and the west side of Mogok, Mandalay Region over the next two weeks. The anti-junta forces have also continued their attacks in Mandalay Region’s Mogok Township and northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio , Kyaukme, and Mongmit townships since restarting the offensive. The TNLA has also besieged the Myanmar army’s Military Operations Command 1 headquarters and Infantry Battalion (IB) 501 and IB 502 bases in Kyaukme Township, which borders Nawnghkio Township to the east. At the same time, the MDY-PDF—a TNLA ally commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government—has carried out offensive operations in Mandalay Region’s Madaya and Singu townships, seizing more than a dozen junta bases.

Anti-junta forces seize missile base in northern Shan State

Despite air support, junta ground forces were unable to hold off assaults by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and allied fighters on a missile battalion base near Nawnghkio

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