As ceasefire ends, Ta’ang armed group moves to seize northern Shan State towns from Myanmar military

Battles raged in two northern Shan State townships after a China-brokered truce broke down on Tuesday and an anti-junta armed group resumed offensive operations against the military regime’s forces. Fighters of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and their allies seized government buildings as they drove army troops out of Nawnghkio, northern Shan State, about one hour’s drive from the military garrison town of Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, locals told Myanmar Now on Wednesday. “The Ta’ang army captured almost all administrative offices yesterday. So, it could be said that the town is largely under the control of the TNLA,” a Nawnghkio resident said. With assistance from allied fighters of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF)—the armed wing of the publicly mandated, shadow National Unity Government—the TNLA was able to seize Nawnghkio’s general hospital, police headquarters, and office of the Myanmar War Veterans’ Organisation on Tuesday, according to local sources. Most of the junta’s administrative departments are in Bu Tar and Zay, two of Nawnghkio’s six urban wards. The TNLA claims to have resumed fighting against junta forces in northern Shan State due to the military’s repeated alleged violations of a ceasefire deal to which the Ta’ang ethnic armed group agreed in January, along with its allies. “The fighting stopped last night at around 6pm but resumed around 6am today. We heard artillery fire and gunshots near the general hospital and fire station on the west side of the town before we left,” a resident of the Nawnghkio’s South (Taung) Ward said on Wednesday. Locals also said the clashes had displaced civilians from their homes, and that the junta battalion based outside of town had so far managed to hold its position. “We were forced to leave the town before noon, so we’re heading to southern Shan State now,” the South Ward resident said. “We heard roads were blocked at Wet Wun village, which is stopping displaced people from getting to Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin.” Another Nawnghkio resident said many displaced people have sought shelter at monasteries in villages near the town. The TNLA has initiated assaults on the army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 114 and LIB 115 bases around three miles west of Nawnghkio. Local sources told Myanmar Now that although the junta troops are still holding their positions near Bant Bway, a large village about midway between Nawnghkio and Pyin Oo Lwin, anti-regime forces have now overrun several junta outposts on the road between the two towns. The outposts captured by combined TNLA and PDF forces were in Gant Gaw, Kyauk Kyan, Ong Ma Hkar, and Ohn Ma Thee villages, according to Nawnghkio Township residents. Townships impacted by clashes in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region, June 23-26, 2024 Spokespersons for the TNLA have not provided details about the capture of these junta positions at the time of reporting. Clashes between the TNLA and regime forces have also spread to the outskirts of the town of Kyaukme, some 30 miles northeast of Nawnghkio. Junta troops have reportedly blocked roads near the police station at the entrance to Kyaukme, trapping civilian residents inside the town. “We brought three injured people to the general hospital this morning,” a representative of a Kyaukme Township-based social welfare group said. “Their condition was not very good.” Shelling from junta artillery killed at least two people in Kyaukme’s residential wards on Tuesday, the town’s residents said.

As ceasefire ends, Ta’ang armed group moves to seize northern Shan State towns from Myanmar military

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) took over government offices in Nawnghkio, northern Shan State only hours after announcing a resumption of hostilities with junta forces

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