Ta’ang ethnic armed group seizes sixth town in northern Shan State

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has taken over Mongngawt, Kyaukme Township, the sixth town captured by the group since the launch of the Operation 1027 offensive, the ethnic armed group announced on Monday. Spokespersons said the group’s fighters took full control of the town, located within territory claimed by the TNLA’s Brigade 2 in northern Shan State, on Sunday night after capturing a key junta base, administrative offices, and a police station during a three-day battle. The TNLA fighters seized a large stockpile of weapons and ammunition including a howitzer from the junta forces, according to their statement. The capture of Mongngawt by the TNLA comes after its takeover of Namtu, another town located in Kyaukme District, on December 28. The armed group also claimed junta troops had advanced into the area from a base in Lashio, northern Shan State’s largest town on Sunday, destroying a bridge on the road connecting Lashio to the town of Namtu, Kyaukme Township at around 3pm. The tripartite Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations—made up of the TNLA as well as the Arakan Army and the Kokang armed organisation Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army—initiated a coordinated offensive campaign against the military called Operation 1027 in late October of 2023. Mongngawt is a small town with around 19,000 inhabitants as of 2014 according to the nationwide census taken that year, and is located some six miles north of Kyaukme, a district-level administrative seat. Since December 30, junta forces have reportedly carried out indiscriminate attacks on Mongngawt and the surrounding area using heavy artillery and airstrikes, damaging around 20 civilian houses and religious buildings. According to the TNLA, these attacks have resulted in at least two civilian deaths and five injuries. The junta air force carried out at least 17 airstrikes in and near the villages of Chone Thit and Chone Haung northwest of Mongngawt on Saturday, the armed group said. The junta has also carried out aerial attacks in Namtu Township, killing at least three people and injuring seven. One such attack on a monastery in Mang Li village resulted in the death of a teacher last Friday, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO), and caused damage to at least four buildings on the monastery’s compound. Indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets by junta forces has reportedly occurred in the northern Shan State townships of Kutkai, Laukkai, Hsipaw, and Kyaukme. Following the launch of Operation 1027 in October, the TNLA succeeded in taking over Namkham in the township of the same name in November, followed by Monglon in Kyaukme Township, the townships of Namhsan and Manton in the Palaung Self-Administered Zone, Namtu, and Mongngawt in December. In addition to seizing six towns, the ethnic armed group has also overrun more than 70 junta outposts and camps in northern Shan State. The Brotherhood Alliance has captured thirteen towns and more than 400 junta bases since initiating its offensive in October.

Ta’ang ethnic armed group seizes sixth town in northern Shan State

The TNLA took full control of Mongngawt in Kyaukme Township amid ongoing, indiscriminate air and artillery strikes by the military in several of the state’s townships

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