Clashes kill more than 100 as Myanmar junta fights to hold onto Lashio

Civilian casualties continue to mount in Lashio as fighting for control of northern Shan State’s largest city rages on nearly a week after it was captured by anti-regime forces. According to a local volunteer, more than 100 people have been killed around the city in recent days, as residential areas are hit by junta airstrikes and shelling by both sides. “There are at least 109 bodies all over the city, including many that we can’t retrieve,” said a member of a Lashio-based social welfare team who spoke to Myanmar Now on Wednesday. “Around a third of the population is still trapped amid the fighting. Some people have asked for help getting their elderly parents out, but we still aren’t allowed to enter the city,” he added. Last week, the Myanmar Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) announced that it had captured the headquarters of the junta’s Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) in Lashio after weeks of intense clashes. Since then, the ethnic Kokang armed group has moved to take full control of the city, ward by ward. According to residents, it currently controls wards 2 through 8. On Sunday, the junta conducted multiple aerial assaults in Ward 1, while on Tuesday, it targeted Ward 9 in the city’s north, near a strategic hill occupied by six combat support battalions. “There were airstrikes all through the day, from 9am until 5pm. Junta bombardment destroyed two-thirds of Ward 9’s residential area,” said a displaced resident of the ward. In a video posted on Facebook, black smoke could be seen billowing near the RMC headquarters on Tuesday, a day after a nearby train station in Ward 9 was seized by the MNDAA. According to residents of the area, the smoke was from an explosion at a fuel storage facility near the Combat Support Battalion 626 base. Clashes were also reported in Ward 12, a major gateway to the RMC headquarters, on Tuesday, local sources said. At least four wards have sustained heavy damage from airstrikes in recent days, according to Mar Nagar, a local media outlet. Residents say that there are MNDAA troops in many of Lashio’s residential areas. “Kokang troops are staying in people’s houses. They’re not taking anything, but they’re urging everyone to leave to avoid getting caught up in the clashes,” a Lashio resident said. Fighting erupted in Lashio in the first week of July, when the MNDAA launched attacks on military bases on the outskirts of the city after the group and its allies resumed their anti-regime offensive in northern Shan State on June 25. The MNDAA entered Lashio after capturing a light infantry battalion base at the southern entrance to the city on July 22. Three days later, after announcing that it had taken control of the Northeastern RMC headquarters, it released photos of its troops in front of Lashio’s city hall and general hospital, as well as other key locations. It also released a video on Tuesday showing Kokang police patrolling the city centre as the group’s flag flew over Lashio City Hall. Hundreds of troops from the United Wa State Army, Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group and a close ally of the MNDAA, also entered Lashio over the weekend. On Monday, another allied group, the Bamar People's Liberation Army, reported that it had captured several junta positions in and around Lashio, including a military equipment division, Tank Battalion 7005, and Lashio Golf Course.

Clashes kill more than 100 as Myanmar junta fights to hold onto Lashio

Many residents remain trapped in their homes nearly a week after anti-regime forces claimed control of the city

Subscribe for full access

‘Will it be different this time, Grandson?’

Across a border and into a war: A Karenni leader’s final journey

When going home is impossible: Myanmar nationals find solace in Singapore’s Peninsula Plaza

The Russian general behind Moscow’s decades-long military courtship of Myanmar

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Two fishing boats destroyed as Myanmar military intensifies activity around Sittwe

Detained forced conscripts escape past drunk junta guards in Sagaing

Myanmar political prisoner Dein Daung dies after delayed medical treatment

Junta column faces strong resistance en route to Hpapun tactical base