Myanmar military takes full control of Banmauk

Resistance forces withdrew from their last remaining positions in Banmauk, Sagaing Region, on Sunday, three weeks after losing control of half the town to Myanmar’s military and an allied ethnic armed group. The town, captured in September of last year by forces under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG), has seen intense fighting since early January. Hundreds of junta troops, together with members of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), retook two of its four wards on January 18. “We had to retreat yesterday at around 10am,” a man close to the resistance forces told Myanmar Now on Monday, adding that the regime deployed three fighter jets to finish the job of recapturing the timber and mining hub near the border with Kachin State. “They were dropping bombs from planes, and the fighting lasted all day. When they started bombing from the air, we couldn’t hold on anymore and had to withdraw.” He also noted that the military made extensive use of drones in its relentless campaign to retake Banmauk. “They used advanced reconnaissance drones for surveillance and fired heavy artillery. They also attacked with kamikaze drones. That’s how the town was lost,” he said. After losing Banmauk’s Mya Nan Dar and Hlae Sin Gone wards on January 18, resistance forces redoubled their efforts to hold on to the rest of the town, but were hindered by a lack of ammunition, according to the man. Both sides reportedly suffered heavy casualties in the clashes for control of Banmauk’s Aung Tha Kone and Myoma wards. On February 1, airstrikes claimed the lives of 11 members of the Banmauk People’s Defence Force, sources said. The junta has acknowledged the loss of some of its troops, but did not provide specific figures. After NUG-led forces, together with troops from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), captured Banmauk in September, junta and SNA forces stationed there withdrew to a base to the west of the town, from which they launched their counteroffensive. Although some troops from the regime’s Light Infantry Division 77 were involved in the battle to retake Banmauk, most of the forces were from the SNA, according to resistance sources. Since the military seized power five years ago, the SNA has become closer to the junta as the KIA and other anti-regime forces have expanded into areas under their control. The SNA has cooperated with the junta’s military operations in Sagaing Region’s Hkamti, Homalin, Phaungpyin, Banmauk, Wuntho, and Indaw townships, as well as in Mohnyin, Indawgyi, and Hpakant-Sezin townships in Kachin State. NUG-aligned resistance forces captured Pinlebu, located about 60 miles southwest of Banmauk, in October of last year and Indaw, some 28 miles east of Banmauk, in April. To date, anti-junta forces have captured the towns of Indaw, Mawlu, Pinlebu, Khampat, Myothit, and Shwe Pyi Aye in Sagaing Region.

Myanmar military takes full control of Banmauk

Regime forces and the allied Shanni Nationalities Army recaptured half of the town in northern Sagaing Region three weeks ago

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