MNDAA attack kills junta brigadier general

An army brigadier general was killed this week in the Kokang region of northern Shan State, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). Brig-Gen Aung Zaw Lin was the head of the junta’s Military Operations Command No. 12 based in Kawkareik, Karen State, one of 21 such command offices in Myanmar. He was among some 100 junta soldiers killed late last week while retreating amid MNDAA attacks on their bases in the Kokang region, located on the China-Myanmar border. “We found the body of a junta officer shot dead during the remaining junta soldiers’ withdrawal from the area on December 6, and his insignia confirmed he was the commander of Military Operations Command No. 12,” the statement said. The MNDAA has been trying to return the body to the military council, according to their statement, but so far their calls to the military have gone unanswered. The MNDAA is an ethnic Kokang armed group and a member of the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance, which has been carrying out a broad offensive against the Myanmar military in northern Shan State since late October. MNDAA fighters also claimed to have killed a junta division commander during the early days of Operation 1027, and to have captured a battalion commander on November 27. On Thursday, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing conferred honorary titles and medals on a number of military, police, and civilian personnel for their role in defending the state, according to state media reports. Four military officers–Col Aung Zayar Win, Col Myo Ko Ko Win, Lt-Col Sai Kabar Soe, and Lt-Col Thurein–each received the title of “Thura'' for gallantry. Lesser titles for gallantry were also conferred on a total of 35 military officers, while five police officers were given the Ye Thura medal, state media reported.

MNDAA attack kills junta brigadier general

The junta officer, Aung Zaw Lin, headed one of the army’s 21 military operations commands and was the highest-ranking officer killed so far in the ongoing Operation 1027 offensive

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