MNDAA seizes key outpost south of Laukkai

Anti-regime forces say they are ready to launch attacks against junta troops inside Laukkai, the administrative centre of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, after capturing a key military outpost south of the town on Wednesday. Li Kyar Win, the spokesperson for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), told Myanmar Now that its troops had been fighting for control of the outpost since Saturday. “We faced intense resistance from the junta’s soldiers at this outpost,” he said, adding that the group is now in a position to mount a full-on assault on the military headquarters in the town from its southern flank. The outpost, located on a steep hill known locally as Four Cardinal Pagoda Hill, is at the end of a path that leads to the headquarters, about 2km away. Although the capture of the outpost brings the MNDAA closer to its goal of seizing Laukkai itself, the northern side of the town, which faces the Chinese border, remains well guarded. TNLA troops take control of a junta outpost in Kyaukme after capturing it on December 5 (TNLA) According to locals who recently fled the town to escape the war, the military has set up heavy artillery units in the hills to the north as part of an effort to bolster its defences. Meanwhile, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a key ally of the MNDAA, also announced on Wednesday that it has captured two junta outposts in the northern Shan State towns of Kyaukme and Namkham. The group said it fought for several days to gain control of the outposts, adding that it also seized a number of machine guns and mortar launchers left behind by retreating junta troops. The TNLA—which claims as its indigenous territory areas west of the Thanlwin River in northern Shan State—continues to engage in clashes with regime forces in the towns of Kukai, Namkham, and Hsipaw. Major bridges in these towns, which are all located on important trade routes to China, have been destroyed by the TNLA and its allies to prevent the military from sending reinforcements.

MNDAA seizes key outpost south of Laukkai

The ethnic Kokang armed group says it is now much closer to its goal of capturing the town

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