Myanmar junta loses more ground to Ta’ang armed group in northern Shan State

Heavy fighting raged in two northern Shan State townships on Wednesday and Thursday as the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and its allies strove to wrest territory from the military regime’s control. Two days after announcing the end of a five-month ceasefire and resumption of hostilities with the Myanmar military, the TNLA continued to assault the regime forces’ bases in Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships, both located within territories claimed by the Ta’ang armed group’s Brigade 2. Despite persistent attacks by the anti-junta fighters, the regime’s ground forces held their position at the Light Infantry Battalion 114 base in Nawnghkio Township with the support of airstrikes by junta fighter jets. Despite the aerial bombing, the TNLA and its allies were able to capture the junta’s Artillery Battalion 606 base at around 11am on Thursday. Most of the fighters allied with the TNLA were members of the People’s Defence Forces, the armed wing of the publicly mandated, anti-junta National Unity Government. The TNLA-led forces have thus far managed to overrun at least 24 junta outposts in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region since reinitiating their anti-junta offensive on Tuesday, the TNLA’s information team claimed. Weapons seized by TNLA-led anti-junta fighters from surrendering regime forces in Kyaukme Township. (Photo: MDY-PDF) Located 35 miles northeast of the Myanmar military’s garrison town of Pyin Oo Lwin, Nawnghkio is the first town to have fallen under the control of anti-regime forces, according to a statement by the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF), a subgroup of the PDF active in Mandalay Region and adjacent areas of northern Shan State. The combined TNLA and PDF forces have seized at least ten junta outposts in Nawnghkio Township, including the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 115 base less than three miles west of Nawnghkio, which the MDY-PDF said was captured on Wednesday. Kyaukme residents told Myanmar Now on Thursday that the TNLA had seized several junta-controlled government buildings including the town hall, police headquarters, and administrative department office on Wednesday. “The TNLA hoisted their flag over the city hall this morning. They also seized administrative offices and police stations and the Artillery Battalion 352 base. They’re now stationed inside the town and around its outskirts,” a resident of Kyaukme in his 40s said on Thursday. A statement from the TNLA’s information team confirmed that anti-regime forces had overrun eight junta outposts in Kyaukme Township, including the artillery battalion base, on Wednesday. The Ta’ang armed group’s spokespersons also claimed that 17 junta soldiers from the Military Operations Command 1 headquarters, which is based in Kyaukme, had surrendered to the TNLA-led forces the same day. Nonetheless, intense clashes were still ongoing in Kyaukme on Thursday as the TNLA and its allies fought to take over the LIB 501 and 502 bases in the town. Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters sit with an allied member of the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) resistance group after the TNLA reinitiated the “Operation 1027” anti-junta offensive on June 25. (Photo: MDY-PDF) The TNLA’s information team claimed six civilians had been killed and 18 had been injured by junta bombing and shelling since June 25. However, the number of civilian casualties is unconfirmed and may be higher. A member of a Kyaukme-based volunteer social welfare group said they had retrieved and cremated at least 21 bodies in two of the town’s urban wards on Thursday morning. “All of them were male, and their bodies had bullet wounds. We were unable to determine whether they were civilians or soldiers,” the Kyaukme volunteer said. “There are still more bodies. We weren’t able to retrieve them all.” Battles have also escalated since Tuesday in Mogok Township, Mandalay Region, which borders Nawnghkio and Kyaukme townships to the north. TNLA-led forces launched attacks on the LIB 248 base in Mogok Township at around 8:30 am on Thursday, and have overrun at least five junta outposts in the township since Tuesday, according to the TNLA.

Myanmar junta loses more ground to Ta’ang armed group in northern Shan State

In the two days since announcing the end of a ceasefire with the Myanmar military, the TNLA has captured two dozen junta bases in northern Shan State and nearby areas of Mandalay Region while fighting fiercely to take over two townships

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