The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) says it has seized full control of Mongko, the latest town in northern Shan State to fall to anti-junta groups over the past two weeks.
MNDAA spokesperson Li Kyar Win told Myanmar Now that the group and its close ally, the Arakan Army (AA), captured the town on Tuesday after launching attacks on a junta tactical base there two days earlier.
“We are now in full control of Mongko. There are no junta troops left inside the town,” he said, adding that fighting continues elsewhere in the region.
According to Li Kyar Win, the MNDAA has raised its flag over the border gate to China but has not allowed residents to return as area-clearing operations were still ongoing.
The Kokang, an information group affiliated with the MNDAA, posted photos on its Facebook page of weapons and ammunition seized from the junta forces, including a Brazilian-made armoured vehicle and two destroyed Howitzer guns.
Since October 27, the MNDAA and its allies have taken over scores of junta outposts and other military positions as part of an offensive dubbed Operation 1027.
The groups claim they have also captured around 100 Myanmar army soldiers and taken control of the towns of Chin Shwe Haw, Hpawng Hseng, Pang Hseng, and Hsenwi.
Over the weekend, AA-led forces seized a tactical hill base at Pan Lone, south of Mongko, reportedly killing the commander of the military’s Light Infantry Division 99, Col Aung Kyaw Lwin.
The AA was formed in 2009 with the support of MNDAA leader Peng Jiasheng, who provided the group with its first 100 guns and two RPG launchers, according to AA commander Twan Mrat Naing.
Meanwhile, resistance forces in Sagaing Region have also seized two towns—district seat Kawlin and Khampat, near the Indian border—as other groups take advantage of the regime’s struggle to deal with the situation in northern Shan State.
