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Clashes between TNLA and junta forces continue in northern Shan State

The ethnic armed organisation has repeatedly fought with junta and allied militia forces since July over control of the Muse-Namkhan road, an important route for trade on the Shan-China border

Army troops and allied militias fought with Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Wednesday, causing traffic congestion in Muse Township, northern Shan State, according to local sources.

The fighting reportedly broke out after a military convoy of around 10 vehicles triggered explosives set by the TNLA forces near lower Ton Khan village, on the road between the town of Muse and the Milestone 105 Commercial Zone near the Chinese border.

According to initial reports, a group called the Muse Myoma Militia No. 2 also participated in the fighting on the junta side, and two of its members were killed.

Military units fired heavy artillery from where they were stationed inside the Milestone 105 Commercial Zone, a few miles east of Muse, hitting a civilian home and injuring a woman inside who was later transported to the Muse hospital.

“They’ve been firing from Milestone 105. They’re also still shooting near Ton Kan village,” a Milestone 105 resident told Myanmar Now on Wednesday afternoon.

A source with knowledge of local resistance forces claimed fighters from People’s Defence Forces (PDF) under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG) joined the TNLA in the battles, but neither TNLA nor PDF spokespersons have yet confirmed that the PDF participated.

According to local sources, the military was still firing off their weapons at around 4pm on Wednesday, after gunfire from the TNLA side had stopped.

The road where the battles took place leads to the Kyin San Kyawt (Jin San Jiao) gate, an important crossing for border trade between China and Myanmar, and one of the few border gates temporarily opened during the COVID-19 pandemic when other crossings remained closed.

The TNLA has been carrying out offensive operations in an effort to take control of the road for more than a week.

Junta troops (MINE-Shwe Phi Myae)

TNLA forces have fought at least five battles against junta and allied forces in and near Muse Township since July, according to local sources. Fighting broke out near Man Kan village on the Muse-Namkhan road last Sunday, as well as in Hseng Hkawng and other northern Shan State villages near the Milestone 105 Commercial Zone, four days earlier.

Local pro-junta militias have assisted military forces based in Muse and nearby townships in fighting the TNLA before. In a battle near the township’s Seilant village on July 23, two members of the Namkhan Myoma Militia were killed and three were injured.

Leading members of the TNLA—along with its allies in the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Army—met with junta representatives in early June for Chinese government-sponsored talks in the border city of Mongla.

The talks ended ahead of schedule with no agreements reached as fighting broke out again between the MNDAA and junta forces in other parts of the state.

TNLA members were among the thousands of prisoners pardoned in a military council amnesty on August 1, the same day the military council announced a clemency for ousted civilian leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint.

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