The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) attacked a Myanmar military camp near the iconic Goteik viaduct in northern Shan State’s Nawnghkio Township over several days this week in an attempt to drive the junta’s forces out of the area, a spokesperson for the ethnic armed organisation said.
Working alongside the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF), the TNLA struck the base on Monday, with fighting ongoing at the time of reporting. The joint forces have been firing on the site from strategic vantage points near the viaduct, a nearly 670-metre railway bridge some 250m over the Goteik gorge on the Namtu, or Myitnge, River.
“We took up a position near the Goteik viewpoint and attacked the military camp below us,” the TNLA’s Lt-Col Tar Aik Kyaw told Myanmar Now. “Even though we were able to take the higher position, we have not been able to overrun the camp yet,” he said on Wednesday.
The TNLA and MDY-PDF were also reportedly able to halt a military convoy of more than a dozen vehicles which it attacked near Shwe Nyaung Pin village in Nawnghkio Township on Monday along the national highway connecting Mandalay to the northern Shan State city of Lashio.
“We have been able to cut off that convoy. [We] also destroyed one of the armoured vehicles by shooting it with an RPG,” Lt-Col Tar Aik Kyaw said.
Locals said that battles around Shwe Nyaung Pin continued over the following days and that locals in the area had fled their homes and hid in surrounding forests. Villages have been placed under a military-imposed curfew of 5pm until 6am. The Brotherhood Alliance, consisting of the TNLA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Arakan Army launched a major offensive called Operation 1027 on October 27, named for its start date. The alliance says it has seized more than 120 junta bases and outposts—a claim rejected by the military council—and captured more than 100 prisoners of war, and seized several towns, including Namkham and Mongko. The groups have warned the public against using the Mandalay-Lashio highway while Operation 1027 is in effect as they target convoys bringing military reinforcements and supplies on the road.