Maw Luu falls to Myanmar junta forces after days of heavy fighting

Resistance forces have withdrawn from the town of Maw Luu in Sagaing Region after several days of intense fighting, local sources and residents said on Tuesday. The town, located near the border with Kachin State, had been under the control of anti-regime groups for more than two years. Junta troops entered Maw Luu at around 9:30am after resistance fighters withdrew following heavy clashes that began in the early hours of the morning, according to a Kachin-based military source. “There was intense fighting starting at around 4am. There was quite a bit of combat before [the resistance forces] finally pulled back,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The capture of Maw Luu comes days after the military retook the nearby town of Indaw, about 20 miles to the south, on April 30. Hundreds of regime soldiers then advanced on Maw Luu, launching an offensive on May 2, residents said. After four days of fighting, resistance forces withdrew as junta troops reached a bridge at the entrance to the town, clearing the way for the military to re-establish control. Residents and local sources said the military used heavy artillery and drones in the offensive, overwhelming resistance fighters who were outmatched in weapons, manpower, and technology. “They put up a strong fight, but they couldn’t match the military in firepower and equipment,” one resident said. Maw Luu had been seized by a coalition of resistance forces in December 2023, at a time when Operation 1027, a major anti-junta offensive launched in northern Shan State two months earlier, left it exposed in other parts of the country. Since April, the military has been reinforcing positions in the nearby town of Katha and pushing to regain territory it had lost in Sagaing Region, a stronghold of the armed resistance movement. The military has also retaken several towns in Mandalay Region in recent months, including Singu, Thabeikkyin, and Tagaung, as it seeks to regain momentum with the help of newly conscripted forces. Reports indicate the military may next move north from Maw Luu toward Namseeawng, a junta-controlled town just across the border in Kachin State. Linking these two towns will give the regime full control of the Shwebo-Myitkyina highway, a key transport route connecting central and northern Myanmar. Earlier this year, the military and the Shanni Nationalities Army, an allied ethnic militia, also recaptured the Sagaing Region town of Banmauk, which fell on February 8, more than four months after it was seized by resistance forces. Anti-regime forces have maintained a strong presence in Sagaing Region since the military seized power in February 2021, with several towns, including Indaw, Khampat, Shwe Pyi Aye, Maw Luu, and Pinlebu coming under their control at various points during the conflict.

Maw Luu falls to Myanmar junta forces after days of heavy fighting

Resistance forces withdraw from the Sagaing Region town, located near the border with Kachin State, days after losing control of nearby Indaw

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