BANGKOK: An armed alliance of ethnic minority groups in Myanmar claimed late Friday to have captured a northern town notorious for online scam operations in another blow to the embattled junta.
The military is facing its biggest threat since seizing power in a 2021 coup after three armed ethnic groups -- known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance -- launched a sweeping October offensive in northern Shan state.
Since November people have been fleeing Laukkai town, located in a district bordering China that is run by a Myanmar military-aligned militia and notorious for gambling, prostitution and online scams run out of compounds staffed by thousands of people, many trafficked.
The alliance -- made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Ta´ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) -- said the town was now under their control.