Junta troops push toward Kyaukme amid heavy clashes with TNLA

Junta troops advancing from Nawnghkio in northern Shan State have reached the outskirts of Kyaukme, where they are locked in heavy clashes with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), residents said. Junta forces stepped up their offensive in northern Shan State last month, with troops from Brigades 11 and 55 under the Northeastern Command seizing Htan Ta Pin, Nawng Pin, and Met Man villages in Kyaukme Township by late August.In recent days, soldiers captured a TNLA outpost in Hkaik Ton Huong village and have pressed on toward Nar Aik Hkant, where heavy clashes with TNLA fighters are still raging, residents said. “The columns are moving forward with significant forces and are now getting closer,” a Kyaukme resident told Myanmar Now. “Their advance has been slow, while the TNLA has been alternating between attacking and withdrawing.”Residents said villages including Sa Khan Thar and Hko Mone, located between Nar Aik Hkant and Kyaukme Town, remain under TNLA control. The junta has meanwhile launched repeated drone strikes on Sa Khan Thar, about three miles from Nar Aik Hkant. “It appears they are using drones to scout Sa Khan Thar and clear the way,” another Kyaukme resident familiar with the clashes said. “The troops haven’t arrived yet.” Between September 18 and 21, three men in their 40s were wounded by landmines in Nawng Pyit village, where clashes had recently erupted, Kyaukme residents said. The incident comes amid intensified junta offensives in northern Shan State, where the military has sought to dislodge the TNLA from key strongholds. “Villagers returned home to check on their properties after hearing reports of break-ins and looting,” a Kyaukme resident said. “On the way, they were hit by landmines and had to have their legs amputated. Three people have suffered this fate so far this month.”At the same time, residents of junta-controlled Nawng Ping village are barred from returning home and are worried after reports that their properties were broken into and stolen. As junta columns advanced toward Kyaukme Town, the TNLA reportedly captured and questioned several residents, according to sources close to those being held. “People I know were also taken,” the source said. “Some have been released, but others are still being held. Women and children were freed, but the men were not.” TNLA has not responded to inquiries about detentions in Kyaukme, though sources said residents were checked for junta ties and later released. Days after the fall of Nawnghkio, junta forces launched ground and air assaults on Pin Tein, Pin Tee, and Kyawng Kone villages in Kyaukme Township. After more than a month of offensives, junta columns have now approached within ten miles of Kyaukme. Airstrikes and artillery fire during the attacks have killed nearly 30 civilians, including children, and injured over 50 more. Residents said the military has stepped up attacks on Kyaukme and villages along the road to Mogok, sending more than 10 vehicles to reinforce troops in Yadanar Theingi on September 22. The village, about 47 miles from Mogok, was seized by TNLA and allied groups during Operation 1027, but retaken by the junta in late August. On August 27, the TNLA and junta held talks in Kunming, China, where the TNLA offered to hand over Kyaukme and Hsipaw towns. The junta rejected the proposal, countering that only Namhsan and Manton could be transferred, and the negotiations collapsed. Sources close to TNLA leaders said both sides plan to meet again in Kunming by the end of this month. According to a statement by the Thailand-based Shan Human Rights Foundation, over 86,000 residents from Hsipaw and Kyaukme townships have been displaced by ongoing junta offensives.“The junta hasn’t permitted anyone to go back,” a local villager said. “Our belongings are probably all gone by now. It’s very frustrating, we’ve saved for years, but the clashes are still ongoing.”

Junta troops push toward Kyaukme amid heavy clashes with TNLA

Resistance forces trade ground with advancing troops in northern Shan State, where drone strikes, air raids, and landmines have left civilians killed and wounded

Subscribe for full access

Explainer: Who are the companies and cronies backing Myanmar junta leader’s Thailand visit?

From palace stages to exile: A Myanmar dancer who chose conscience over ceremony

Her parents gone, a Myanmar student prays for the return of a father lost in conflict

Rakhine State floods put AA administration to its biggest test yet

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Myanmar junta awards major trade software contract to sanctioned Russian tech group

Junta chief makes trip to Russia

Myanmar junta airstrike kills eight family members in southern Rakhine State

Regime arrests 19 CSO members on suspicion of supporting education in resistance areas