Myanmar junta seizes TNLA bases as counteroffensive continues

Having resumed offensive operations in northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio Township, the Myanmar military captured an anti-junta ethnic armed group’s key outpost in the township’s Tha Yet Cho village last week, locals said. The seizure of the outpost occurred on May 20, around two months after regime forces retook other bases held by the same armed group—the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—elsewhere in the township in February. Taking the Tha Yet Cho base may give the junta a tactical edge in advancing towards its next likely target, Kan Gyi village some seven miles south of Nawnghkio, according to a source familiar with the battlefield situation in the township. “Tha Yet Cho is on high ground, though the village itself lies in a flat area. When we say we lost Tha Yet Cho, we mean the hill, which holds significant strategic value,” the source said. “If they reach Kan Gyi, it could serve as a convenient resting point before they push towards Tawng Hkam,” he added, referring to a town south of Nawnghkio. “We can assume the units advancing from Bant Bway are heading toward Kan Gyi.” Despite losing their outposts near Tawng Hkam—a town south of Nawnghkio—to the junta forces, the TNLA is now mounting a counterattack, according to the armed group’s spokesperson Lway Yay Oo. “The junta forces have been resupplying their weapons and stepping up offensives near Tawng Hkam,” the TNLA spokesperson said. “As clashes intensified, they escalated drone strikes and raids, which led us to withdraw from the area. But we are now preparing to launch counterattacks.” Before the TNLA began taking control over territory in Nawnghkio, the township was home to a number of bases for units under the Myanmar military’s Northeastern Command, including the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 114 and 115 bases; the Artillery Battalion (AB) 354, 406, and 206 bases; and the Artillery Operations Command 902 headquarters in Tawng Hkam—the command centre for the other three artillery bases. Starting in June 2024, during the second phase of the sweeping Operation 1027 offensive in northern Shan State, the TNLA was joined by fighters of the Mandalay Region People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) in taking over the LIB 114, LIB 115, and Missile Battalion 606 bases before ultimately taking control of Nawnghkio. TNLA-led forces succeeded in seizing junta bases near Tawng Hkam later in the year before the group, under pressure from China, suspended offensive operations against the junta in November. Junta forces later regained much of the ground lost to the TNLA and its allies, and continued to advance into TNLA-controlled territory. The military succeeded in retaking full control of Tawng Hkam in early March after heavy drone and artillery strikes on TNLA outposts in nearby villages. Two junta columns based in Tawng Hkam have been carrying out parallel counter-offensives on Nawnghkio Town from positions roughly five miles away. Anti-junta fighters said the military has now reopened access to Artillery Battalions 902, 402, and 206—previously blocked by resistance forces—to enable the movement of reinforcements from Yatsauk (Lawksawk), southern Shan State. According to a resistance fighter familiar with the battlefield situation, over 3,000 junta troops—including new recruits conscripted under the People’s Military Service Law—are now advancing on Nawnghkio. Intensified artillery bombardments, drone strikes, and aerial attacks have compelled resistance forces to withdraw from several positions. Bant Bway A column of junta soldiers stationed in Bant Bway some 19 miles east of Pyin Oo Lwin—home of the military’s premier officer training academy—has been trying to secure the road between Ohn Ma Thee, some 12 miles southwest of Nawnghkio, and Kan Gyi, located south of the town. Their aim is reportedly to connect with other junta forces in Tawng Hkam. They have clashed repeatedly with TNLA and allied fighters at the Ohn Ma Thee intersection while pushing east, according to the TNLA and local sources. According to a TNLA statement, the military carried out an airstrike on Ohn Ma Thee village last Thursday, dropping four 250-pound bombs. A Nawnghkio resident said locals who had returned home are now fleeing once more due to the military’s frequent airstrikes. “Gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the night in Lan Khwe and Thea Khaw villages,” said a local resident. Satellite map showing the movement of junta columns in Nawnghkio Township “Almost everyone has fled the town. Only a few, mostly those unable to leave, are still there. Some have sought shelter in nearby villages, while others have gone to stay with relatives.” During the Operation 1027 offensive, the TNLA and its allies captured Mogok, Mandalay Region, as well as the northern Shan State towns of During Operation 1027, the TNLA and allied forces captured Mogoke in Mandalay Region, along with the towns of Nawnghkio, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Namhsan, Manton, Namtu, Mongmit, Mongngawt, Monglon, Kutkai, and Namkham. The group took part in negotiations with the military regime mediated by Chinese officials in China’s Yunnan Province in late April, but the talks ended when the TNLA rejected the junta’s proposed condition to withdraw its forces from Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Mogok, and Mongmit. Since the talks ended, with both parties agreeing to reconvene in August, the junta has repeatedly carried out airstrikes targeting areas held by the TNLA and its allies. Ongoing clashes in Nawnghkio Township, previously home to over 170,000 people, have forced tens of thousands to flee to surrounding villages nearby towns including Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay, Taunggyi, and Yatsauk.

Myanmar junta seizes TNLA bases as counteroffensive continues

The spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said the group is now mounting a counterattack after losing their outposts south of Nawnghkio to junta assaults

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