Wa ethnic armed group deploys more fighters to northern Shan State capital

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed group, has bolstered its presence in Lashio, northern Shan State, a city the Myanmar military recently lost to anti-regime forces, according to local media. UWSA forces first entered Lashio shortly after another, allied ethnic armed group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) or Kokang army, occupied the city last weekend. At the time, the UWSA deployed hundreds of its own fighters to Lashio in an apparent effort to ensure its security and protect its own interests in Shan State. The UWSA deployed fighters to the city for a second time on Thursday, sources said, but the size of the force is unconfirmed. Video footage from a local news outlet showed three military trucks flying UWSA flags driving into Lashio, reportedly driving from the UWSA-controlled town of Tangyan, northern Shan State some 80 miles to the southeast. The move is widely understood as an effort to support the MNDAA forces, though the UWSA has issued a statement maintaining its neutrality. The presence of the UWSA, which has a force of around 30,000 fighters and is equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, may serve as a deterrent against potential airstrikes on Lashio by the Myanmar military. Since Monday, the Myanmar air force has conducted a series of bombing raids in other parts of northern Shan State. The UWSA, which operates in autonomously controlled territory on the China-Myanmar border, formed after the 1989 collapse of the Burmese Communist Party. The group agreed to a ceasefire with the Myanmar military which remains in force to this day. Lashio, the site of the Myanmar army’s Northeastern Regional Military Command headquarters, is now under the full control of the MNDAA, which has announced plans to establish a civilian administrative apparatus in the town. The city had a population of around 300,000 before recent, highly destructive clashes in northern Shan State forced most of its inhabitants to flee. Graphic videos posted recently on social media show stray dogs scavenging among bodies in Lashio’s streets. On Monday, the leader of Myanmar’s military regime Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing vowed in a televised speech to retake Lashio. The Brotherhood Alliance—a grouping of ethnic armed organisations that includes the MNDAA—launched an offensive against the Myanmar military in October 2023, capturing more than a dozen townships in northern Shan State in a series of clashes with junta forces and effectively taking control of most of Myanmar’s border with China. The Myanmar military has alleged that the Brotherhood Alliance groups use UWSA-controlled areas as staging grounds for their operations. China has mediated at least four rounds of ceasefire negotiations between the Brotherhood Alliance and the Myanmar military since December of last year, hosting the meetings in Yunnan Province. However, the Myanmar military reportedly did not send representatives to the latest round of talks. In his remarks on Monday, Min Aung Hlaing claimed the military’s recent defeats were due in part to the anti-junta forces’ use of foreign experts and weapons manufactured on the China-Myanmar border. After the speech, anti-China street demonstrations were held simultaneously in Yangon and Naypyitaw.

Wa ethnic armed group deploys more fighters to northern Shan State capital

The presence of Wa fighters with anti-aircraft weapons may help deter retaliatory airstrikes after their ally, the Kokang army, took full control of Lashio from the Myanmar army last week

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