This photo provided by Kyaw Ko Lin shows the landscape of La Khine city in Shan State, Myanmar, on November 20. Myanmar’s military government has confirmed it has withdrawn troops from the city.
Kyaw Ko Lin, via AP
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Kyaw Ko Lin, via AP
This photo provided by Kyaw Ko Lin shows the landscape of La Khine city in Shan State, Myanmar, on November 20. Myanmar’s military government has confirmed it has withdrawn troops from the city.
Kyaw Ko Lin, via AP
BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military junta has confirmed it has withdrawn troops from a major city on its northeastern border with China after it was captured by a coalition of ethnic armed groups that have been fighting for months. .
The fall of La Khine late Thursday is the biggest in a series of defeats suffered by Myanmar’s military junta since the ethnic alliance launched its offensive on October 27. Military government takeover in 2021 and ethnic armed groups across the country.
Ethnic armed groups have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades, but since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, The country is experiencing a situation that amounts to a civil war, and pro-democracy forces have mounted armed resistance nationwide.
The Three Brothers Alliance, which occupied La Khine, is made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’an National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army. The MNDAA is an army of the Chinese Kokan minority.
Photos and videos on social media showed vast amounts of weapons the alliance claimed to have captured.
Laukhine is the capital of Kokang Autonomous Region, which is geographically part of northern Shan State in Myanmar.
Myanmar government spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told the pro-military website Popular News Journal on Saturday that the military and local commanders had decided to take control of La Khine after considering many aspects, including the safety of the soldiers’ families. He said he had abandoned it. is stationed there.
He said the military was also considering China-Myanmar relations across the border in La Khine. China maintains good relations with both the military and the ethnic alliance, and has called for an end to the fighting.
The Chinese government protested after an artillery shell landed on its territory on Wednesday, injuring five people. Zaw Min Tun said the alliance carried out the shelling and tried to blame his military for damaging relations with China.
A statement posted by the alliance on social media late Friday declared that the entire Kokang region had become a “military council-free zone,” referring to Myanmar’s military junta.
The newspaper said that by Friday, 2,389 military personnel and their families had surrendered, including six brigadiers, and all had been evacuated to safe locations.
Video clips circulating on social media allegedly showed soldiers and their families being transported in various vehicles. Shwe Pe Myay News Agency, an online news site reporting from Shan state, said many of them were taken to Lashio, the capital of the northern region of Shan state, under an agreement with the MNDAA on repatriation.
It is unclear whether the Three Brothers Alliance will seek to expand its offensive beyond Shan State, but it has vowed to continue fighting the military regime.
The alliance launched the attack in a fight against military rule and in an effort to rid the region of major organized crime enterprises. China has publicly called for an end to a cyber fraud operation in Lau Khanh that has ensnared tens of thousands of Chinese nationals who have been repatriated to China in recent weeks.
However, the attack was also widely seen as an effort by the MNDAA to oust the junta-backed rival Kokan group from power and regain control of the Kokan autonomous region.
MNDAA commander Peng Deren said in a New Year’s speech published on affiliated online media site The Kokang that the alliance had captured more than 250 military targets and five border crossings with China. . He said more than 300 cyber fraud centers were attacked and more than 40,000 Chinese nationals involved in the operation were repatriated.