Myanmar military struggling to secure Mogok’s surroundings

Clashes have erupted in rural villages northwest of Mogok, Mandalay Region after the Myanmar military regime deployed troops to the area while working to reestablish its administrative apparatus in the town, residents of Mogok Township said. Junta forces advanced north from Mogok over the weekend into the village of Chaung Gyi, some five miles outside the town, before exchanging artillery fire with the resistance forces operating there under the command of the anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG). “The situation is developing in Chaung Gyi village. Artillery positioned on the east side of town has been providing support for the past three to four days,” a resident of Mogok said on Tuesday. The Myanmar military regained control of Mogok—a famous ruby and gemstone-producing hub—after the ethnic armed group Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) agreed to withdraw occupying forces from the town in accordance with a Chinese-brokered ceasefire agreement. However, the armed resistance under the NUG’s defence ministry has continued to clash with the military in the rural areas of Mogok Township. The same resistance forces have also attacked junta troops based at the central police station, hospitals, and monasteries in Mogok using drones and long-range rockets, and the military has retaliated by shelling resistance positions in the villages. Earlier this month, the junta sent reinforcements to Mogok and deployed soldiers into nearby villages suspected of serving as resistance strongholds. “When the junta army first returned to Mogok, it stayed on the defensive,” the Mogok resident said. “Now, they have shifted to attacking the resistance positions and advancing into the villages surrounding the city.” According to observers with military experience, the villages occupied by the resistance—including Chaung Gyi, Kyauk War, Shan Kone San, and Li Suu Kone San—are strategically important. “If [junta forces] take control of these Mogok Township villages and the Mongmit Shweli Myitsone Bridge, the resistance will face greater difficulties,” said Captain Zin Yaw, an officer who defected from the army and has since joined the Civil Disobedience Movement to oppose military rule. “The junta is also moving in from the south, setting off from Twin Nge and currently passing through Shar Taw and Yae Chan Sin, tightening its grip around the area under resistance control.” The military has reportedly reassigned some soldiers from checkpoints in the town to the battle lines outside of town. “Soldiers are no longer stationed at the checkpoints—only People’s Militia members remain,” another Mogok resident said, referring to the junta-sponsored militias that support the army in parts of the country. “All the soldiers have been deployed to the frontline, and the checkpoints to the east and west are now demanding more money,” he added. After taking over the town in July 2024 and holding it for more than a year, the TNLA bowed to pressure from the Chinese government to return control of Mogok to the military junta without a fight. The handover occurred in late November 2025. The junta reinstated its civil service personnel in the town on January 21, but ongoing resistance attacks have prevented the administration from resuming its full functions. “Staff are afraid to be in the offices and have been sheltering in nearby, temporary spaces,” said a source connected to the junta-controlled administration. “With most of the offices damaged and equipment missing, it’s become very difficult to work normally. There’s a constant threat of drone attacks.” The continued fighting has reportedly caused casualties, with two monks and six civilians killed in artillery or drone attacks between late December and early February and more civilians injured. The reinstated personnel have been trying to resume operations out of monasteries and schools until they can return to their offices safely. Mogok, once home to around 200,000 people before Myanmar’s military coup, is estimated to have less than half that population due to the mass displacement caused by fighting in recent years. Since reassuming control, the Myanmar military has not permitted residents to continue gemstone-mining—the town’s primary source of income—and commerce at the Htar Pwe gemstone market in the town is perceptibly slower than before, according to locals. The regime has not yet reassigned its administrative staff to Mongmit (also called Momeik) town in northern Shan State some 30 miles northeast of Mogok, which the TNLA handed back to the junta under the same terms. Ethnic armed fighters—especially members of the Kachin Independence Army—as well as various armed resistance units have maintained their positions in villages surrounding Mongmit, and clashes are reportedly ongoing on the Mogok-Mongmit road.

Myanmar military struggling to secure Mogok’s surroundings

After attempting to resume civil service operations in the ruby-mining town, the junta has been fending off attacks from resistance fighters still active in nearby villages

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