Myanmar military’s road blockades obstruct healthcare access in northern Shan State

Healthcare facilities in war-torn northern Shan State are facing shortages of medical supplies due to Myanmar military blockades on roads into towns under the administrations of ethnic armed organisations, local sources said. A volunteer from a social welfare team in Namtu, which was seized by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in late December, told Myanmar Now that residents of the area had been forced to seek emergency care in junta-controlled towns in the region. This includes Lashio—around 40 miles or one-and-a-half hours away, to which the roads from Namtu are damaged but have not yet been obstructed by the military. Every week, around five patients are reportedly transported to the city. Most have been severely injured by landmines, the volunteer from Namtu said, not specifying which group had planted the explosives in question. “While surgeries can be performed [here], we cannot fully rely on local hospitals due to shortages of supplies and inadequate medical equipment,” he explained. The TNLA, accompanied by the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army, formed the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed groups and launched a major offensive against the Myanmar army in northern Shan State in October called Operation 1027, aimed at driving the junta out of the region. In January, the Alliance agreed to a China-brokered ceasefire. During Operation 1027, the TNLA took over several towns, including Hsenwi, Kutkai, Manton, Monglon, Mongngawt, Namhsan, and Namkham, while the MNDAA claimed Chin Shwe Haw and Laukkai. Meanwhile, the junta has maintained control of Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Lashio, Muse, and Nawnghkio. The primary source of medical supplies to the region is Mandalay, the road from which runs to Kyaukme—controlled by the regime—then to Namhsan and finally to Namtu, for a total of 260 miles, or a 12-hour journey. Local sources told Myanmar Now that there are multiple military checkpoints between Kyaukme and Namhsan, where security remains tight and the passage of all goods restricted. Drivers are reportedly regularly subjected to arrest and interrogation at these junta posts for attempting to deliver rice or medicine using the route, their cargo confiscated. Additionally, alternative routes currently in use in this part of northern Shan State are impassable in the monsoon season, set to begin in the upcoming months. In January, TNLA representatives told Myanmar Now that they had started setting up their own governance system, providing training to the police and the General Administration Department staff. The group restored access to basic amenities in Namtu, the last town it seized before the temporary ceasefire, and many residents who fled during the fighting returned to their homes in the months that followed. The Namtu Hospital, which was previously operated by the junta, reopened to locals on March 16 under the TNLA’s health department, which Myanmar Now was unable to reach for comment. Healthcare services resume at Namtu Hospital on March 16 under the TNLA (TNLA) “We are also trying to restore other healthcare facilities in Namhsan, Manton, and Kutkai,” a spokesperson from the ethnic armed organisation told Myanmar Now on March 22. A formerly government-run rural clinic around 10 miles outside of Namtu has continued operations since the junta abandoned the township in December, with locals calling a doctor who remained behind a “saviour,” treating those wounded by artillery fire and in military airstrikes when he could have fled elsewhere to safety. “My patients are my first priority, which is why I chose to stay here,” he said on the condition of anonymity, admitting that the future of the facility was uncertain. “We will hold on as long as the patients need care.” Several challenges remain, according to the TNLA, including the military’s March 4 declaration of martial law in Manton, Namhsan, and Namtu, which placed the townships’ administration and judiciary under the control of the junta’s Northeastern Regional Military Command headquarters in Lashio. It has raised fears that the areas could be vulnerable to renewed regime attacks, and that the temporary ceasefire in place could be under threat.

Myanmar military’s road blockades obstruct healthcare access in northern Shan State

The regime has stopped medical supplies from reaching towns under the administration of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which is reopening hospitals formerly controlled by the junta

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