Myanmar military continues to lose ground to anti-junta forces in northern Shan State

Ethnic armed groups have continued to make major gains in battles against junta forces near the China-Myanmar border, despite taking part in China-brokered ceasefire negotiations with junta officials last week. The Brotherhood Alliance, which has been carrying out a coordinated offensive against the junta since late October, seized full control of the towns of Namhsan and Namkham, northern Shan State over the past few days. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—one of three member organisations of the Brotherhood Alliance along with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army—claimed they had finally succeeded in taking full control of the towns after weeks of intense fighting with junta troops. After besieging and fighting for an army base west of Namhsan’s urban area for several days, TNLA forces finally succeeded in capturing it at around 3pm on Friday, the group announced in a public statement two days later. “That was the last junta base. Today’s battle was particularly intense but the TNLA managed to seize control of the base,” a local source told Myanmar Now on Friday evening. A TNLA member confirmed to Myanmar Now on the same evening that the TNLA had succeeded in occupying Namhsan’s urban centre and was conducting area clearing operations, the usual procedure after capturing territory from enemy forces. The fight for Namhsan began in the second week of December, with the TNLA seizing a police station in the township’s urban centre and three other junta bases less than five miles away over two days. A map shows the locations of Namsan and Namkham in northern Shan State (Myanmar Now) Although the military deployed air and heavy artillery strikes in response, the TNLA succeeded in capturing the military-owned Shwe Phe Oo tea factory in the town by Wednesday evening. The military’s aerial and heavy artillery attacks continued throughout the battle for Namhsan, reportedly resulting in the deaths of six local residents and destroying nearly 50 civilian houses in less than a week of fighting. The clashes forced virtually all civilian residents of Namhsan to flee their homes. In its statement announcing the final capture of Namhsan, the Ta’ang ethnic armed organisation said it had seized four Howitzers and a large stockpile of other weapons and ammunition, which were shown in photos published on Facebook. They also claimed that more than 60 junta troops had been killed in the fighting, and that the TNLA had taken another 60 soldiers into custody and were providing shelter to their families. The ethnic armed group’s commander-in-chief Tar Hod Plarng met the prisoners of war in person on a visit to Namhsan on Sunday, the statement said. Namhsan, located within territory claimed by the TNLA’s Brigade 2, serves as the administrative seat of Tawngpeng District and the Palaung Self-Administered Zone (SAZ). The Palaung SAZ is an area designated for self-government by the Ta’ang, or Palaung, ethnic community of northeastern Shan State. According to the 2014 census, Namhsan Township has a population of more than 70,000, of which the majority is of Ta’ang ethnicity. On Monday night, just three days after taking Namhsan, the TNLA stormed the Sakhan Thit hill base, the last remaining junta outpost in Namkham Township, located about two miles outside the town centre. The TNLA had already established control in most of the township, which is located on the main trade route to the China-Myanmar border and has a population of more than 100,000, in early November. TNLA fighters enter the junta’s last military outpost in the town of Namkham, Shan State on the evening of December 18 (Myat Pan/Myanmar Now) Although the TNLA has not publicly announced the capture of the junta hill base in Namkham Township, a TNLA member speaking to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity confirmed on Tuesday that the base had been captured the previous day. A Myanmar Now reporter who visited the base early Tuesday saw the dead bodies of junta soldiers in destroyed bunkers and brick walls pockmarked with bullet holes. TNLA soldiers could also be seen hauling away weapons and ammunition. TNLA fighters are also currently targeting junta bases elsewhere in northern Shan State, including in the towns of Kutkai, located some 20 miles southeast of Namhkam, and Manton, the second-largest town in the Palaung SAZ. Since the start of Operation 1027, the offensive begun by the Brotherhood Alliance in late October, the MNDAA has taken control of most major towns in the Kokang SAZ, another region in northern Shan State designated for self-government by an ethnic minority. The MNDAA now claims to be close to taking full control of the Kokang SAZ’s capital, Laukkai, after capturing military outposts near the town. On Monday, MNDAA fighters also took over the Yanlone Kyaing Gate, a busy checkpoint for migrants and merchants crossing the China-Myanmar border, located some three miles from Laukkai. Videos posted on social media showed MNDAA troops removing the national flag of Myanmar from a junta immigration checkpoint at the gate. The social media posts also showed MNDAA officers handing out cash to more than 100 junta troops who had reportedly surrendered. Last month, Myanmar junta officials oversaw the return of thousands of Chinese nationals, who had allegedly become victims of labour trafficking at Laukkai’s notorious scam centres, to their home country through the same border gate. TNLA fighters haul away weapons and ammunition seized from the Sakhan Thit hill in Namkham Township, Shan State (Myat Pan/Myanmar Now) Military regroups Meanwhile, junta forces have gathered in the northern Shan State border town of Muse since last week, evidently preparing to fight back against the Brotherhood Alliance as it continues to advance in the surrounding townships. The military has faced difficulties in deploying ground reinforcements efficiently, but has been able to provide limited air support to their soldiers at the bases and towns targeted by the alliance in the state. Junta infantry units still operating in the area now appear to be regrouping in Muse in order to fend off the alliances’ fighters or mount a counterattack. Brotherhood Alliance fighters overran an army hill base in the 105-Mile Trade Zone outside Muse on Friday, and junta troops retreating from the base joined other army units stationed in Muse. Amid speculation that the alliance’s fighters would penetrate into Muse via the town’s Ho Mun and Namlai wards near the Shweli River, the junta air force used a helicopter to carry out an airstrike on Ho Mun Ward on Sunday. Military units based in Muse’s urban centre also fired indiscriminately on the surrounding areas using heavy artillery, according to the TNLA. While local news outlets have reported no fighting in Muse over the past two days, a TNLA spokesperson said Brotherhood Alliance forces were still planning to target nearby junta bases and that the fighting would not stop. “There are still three or four more bases held by the junta forces in and near Muse and at the town's entrances and exits,” the spokesperson said. Residents of Muse say they fear for their safety amid rumours that the Brotherhood Alliance is planning to enter Muse. “Junta troops and armoured vehicles fleeing from the 105-Mile Zone are now stationed at the football field. They can only stay in Muse. Even though it’s quiet now, people are still concerned,” a Muse resident said. The Brotherhood Alliance is in a more favourable position to mount an attack on Muse after capturing the 105-Mile Trade Zone, which in addition to its strategic importance is a crucial hub for border commerce between Myanmar and China. While the Brotherhood Alliance has seized control of several border towns since the start of its offensive, none match the importance of Muse. The town handles nearly 90% of all cross-border trade with China, which was valued at more than US$2 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year. The alliance has captured scores of junta bases and several towns on or near the Myanmar-China border in the nearly two months since it launched Operation 1027. Despite holding China-mediated talks with members of the alliance last week, the Myanmar military continues to face heavy pressure from anti-regime forces, with fighting reported near the towns of Hsenwi (Hseni), Hsipaw, and Mantong in northern Shan State and Madaya and Mogok in neighbouring Mandalay Region.

Myanmar military continues to lose ground to anti-junta forces in northern Shan State

While the Kokang capital of Laukkai remains under junta control, two other towns—Namhsan and Namkham—have fallen to anti-regime forces since late last week

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