Myanmar armed group says captured regional military command

BANGKOK: A Myanmar ethnic minority armed group said on Saturday it had captured a regional military command after weeks of clashes, in what would be a major blow to the junta.

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) fighters have “fully captured the headquarters of the northeast military command” in Lashio in northern Shan state, the group said in a statement.

Fighting has rocked Lashio, which sits on a major trade highway to China, since early July when MNDAA fighters renewed an offensive against the junta.

A junta spokesman could not be reached for comment.

A military source told AFP on Saturday that “soldiers who have been resisting for weeks inside the north eastern command started retreating this morning.”

The source, who requested anonymity to talk to the media, did not say if any troops were still inside the regional command.

AFP was unable to reach people on the ground in Lashio, which is normally home to around 150,000 people.

Myanmar´s military has 14 regional commands across the country, from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the sprawling southern delta region bordering the Indian Ocean.

Soldiers in at least 10 of them are currently engaged in fighting established ethnic minority armed groups or newer “People´s Defence Forces” that have sprung up to battle the military since its 2021 coup.

The capture of the Lashio post would be the first time the military has lost a regional command during the conflict which erupted more than three years ago.

The military is yet to recover territory in northern Shan state lost to an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups, including the MNDAA, launched late last year.

That offensive saw the MNDAA capture the city of Laukkai near the China border after around 2,000 junta troops surrendered, in one of the military´s biggest single defeats in decades.

Dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded in the recent fighting in Shan state, according to the junta and local rescue groups.