Myanmar junta forces advance within four miles of TNLA-controlled town as clashes continue

Myanmar army troops are less than five miles outside the urban area of Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State as of Wednesday afternoon, threatening to retake control of the town from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), according to locals. Pro-junta propaganda channels on social media posted photos implying that regime forces had already succeeded in taking over the villages of Myet Chee Nu and Nawng Aw a few miles south of the town, but a Nawnghkio Township resident said fighting was ongoing in those villages. “The army’s side is posting photos of captured villages. But on the ground, fighting is still happening everywhere. The army hasn’t taken over everything yet,” he said. Intense fighting raged near Myet Chee Nu, Kyauk Taw, and Long San villages on Sunday, with the junta conducting airstrikes using Y-12 transport aircraft and fighter jets, dropping over 150 bombs while firing on the villages using heavy artillery and drones, according to the TNLA. Fighting also continued between the junta forces and TNLA in Ohn Ma Thee village 12 miles southwest of Nawnghkio on the road to Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, according to another resident of the township. "The army is advancing from Ohn Ma Thee village. Fighting continued until this morning near Ong Ma Hkar village and at Hsum Ma Hse,” he said, referring to villages on the road between Ohn Ma Thee and Nawnghkio. The TNLA, Danu People's Liberation Army (DPLA), and allied resistance forces seized territory stretching down to Tawng Hkam village, 20 miles south of from Nawnghkio, in July of last year during the second phase of Operation 1027, a sweeping offensive against the Myanmar military by ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State. Two junta columns led by the army’s Light Infantry Division (LID) 11 and LID 55 counterattacked from Tawng Hkam in February 2025. The Myanmar army’s superior air power, drones, and heavy artillery allowed it to push resistance forces out of the bases and villages they controlled between Tawng Kham and Nawnghkio, resistance sources said. The junta also conducted airstrikes on civilian settlements where they suspected locals of supporting the resistance forces, causing civilian casualties and deaths. TNLA and Mandalay Region People’s Defense Force (MDY-PDF) troops after capturing the junta’s Rocket Battalion 606 in Nawnghkio (Photo: MDY-PDF) Three men were killed in junta airstrikes on the village of Thone Se some five miles north of Ohn Ma Thee on Tuesday of this week, according to a Thone Se resident. As intense fighting raged in Nawnghkio Township in the last week of June, locals said the junta also hammered the TNLA-controlled town of Kyaukme with airstrikes some 30 miles to the northeast, killing five civilians. More than half the residents who had returned to their homes after being displaced chose to flee again because of the airstrikes, according to one Kyaukme resident. “People don’t dare stay anymore. We don’t know what will happen to Nawnghkio either. With planes coming so often, more than half the previously displaced residents have fled again,” the Kyaukme resident said. More than 10,000 people from Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships have taken refuge in villages like Nawng Ping, around five miles southwest of Kyaukme, according to volunteers aiding the displaced, and relief organisations are appealing for food assistance for the people who have fled their homes. Kyaukme and Nawnghkio are located on crucial routes connecting Myanmar’s heartland with trading hubs along the China-Myanmar border. Under pressure from Chinese officials, the TNLA took part in ceasefire negotiations with the Myanmar military in Kunming, China at the end of April, However, the talks broke down with no agreement reached when the TNLA rejected the junta’s demand to withdraw its forces from five towns under TNLA control: Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Mogok, and Mongmit.

Myanmar junta forces advance within four miles of TNLA-controlled town as clashes continue

The military has been targeting towns controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, including Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, and Mogok, with daily airstrikes

Subscribe for full access

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Beyond the iron bars: Into a broader world of confinement

Burned, beaten, and hunted: Myanmar worker survives alleged torture in Thailand

In Myanmar’s heartland, desperation fuels a shadow trade in stolen identities

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Exclusive: American businessman arrested in Myanmar linked to lobbying dispute

Myanmar workers allege abuse, exploitation at Chinese garment factory; 50 reportedly detained

Myanmar junta chief arrives in China to boost trade ties

China says holding Myanmar researcher suspected of spying