Myanmar military claims recapture of strategic town from rebel force

Ta’ang National Liberation Army rebels did not admit the nonaccomplishment of Nawnghkio municipality to the military, saying they moved to ‘safe locations’.

Myanmar’s subject authorities has claimed to person removed rebel fighters and recaptured a municipality aft a yearlong conflict adjacent the country’s main service grooming academy, marking a uncommon turnaround for the authorities successful the northeast portion of the country.

The country’s ruling subject announced connected Thursday that it made the beforehand successful Shan State’s municipality of Nawnghkio, which had been nether the power of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The rebel group, portion of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, had seized the strategically important town, which sits connected a cardinal road linking cardinal Myanmar to China, successful July 2024.

In a connection published successful the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, the subject authorities said it had retaken Nawnghkio aft “566 equipped engagements wrong 11 operational months”. A uncommon one-page dispersed successful the paper showed soldiers holding rifles aloft successful celebration. It elaborate the battle, admitting archetypal attacks led to officers and enlisted men “sacrificing their lives”.

But “by combining strategical crushed and aerial subject tactics”, the subject captured “the full Nawnghkio area” by Wednesday, it said.

Nawnghkio is located astir 40km (25 miles) from Pyin Oo Lwin, the municipality that hosts the country’s main subject serviceman grooming academy, and immoderate 80km (50 miles) from Myanmar’s second-most populous city, Mandalay.

In a statement, the TNLA did not admit the subject government’s assertion of victory, saying lone that “it has been hard to proceed administrative enactment successful the municipality owed to the dense offensive”. The TNLA added that it had “moved civilian medication services to harmless locations”.

While the combined rebel violative against authorities forces has inflicted sweeping losses since it was launched successful October 2023, analysts accidental the subject government’s power implicit ample colonisation centres is unafraid arsenic it wields an aerial unit susceptible of staving disconnected large-scale rebel advances.

Northeastern Lashio metropolis was besides captured by the rebels but was handed backmost to the ruling subject successful April aft a woody brokered by China.

Since a 2021 subject coup toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and ignited a civilian warfare successful Myanmar, a myriad of pro-democracy equipped groups and taste rebel armies person joined forces to combat against subject rule.

The groups successful the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which besides see the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army, person been warring for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s cardinal government. The confederation is besides loosely allied with the People’s Defence Force, a pro-democracy absorption radical that has emerged to combat the subject regime.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies