When more than 150 junta troops from Sakhan Thit Kone base in northern Shan State surrendered to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Monday night, they drove the number of junta troops, police and members of pro-junta militias who raised the white flag since the launch of Operation 1027 to more than 650.
The troops, many of whom were wounded, were led by Major Myint Kyaw who was in charge of the base near Namkham Town. He, and his troops, surrendered even though they had received heavy support from airstrikes and shelling from junta bases in nearby townships.
This support was insufficient to fend off a month of attacks by the TNLA, one of three members of the Brotherhood Alliance, which launched Operation 1027 in northern Shan State on Oct. 27.
At least 450 junta troops and allied militia members had surrendered to alliance members in northern Shan State since the launch of the coordinated offensive by the TNLA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army.
Over 270 junta outposts and bases have been overrun by Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State alone since Oct. 27.
The TNLA seized the Sakhan Thit Kone, the latest base to fall, on Tuesday morning.
A large group of junta troops and allied militia members at Yanlong Keng, a Myanmar-China border gate in Shan State’s Laukkai township have also surrendered to the MNDAA on Monday, but the ethnic army has not released the exact number of troops and militia members who surrendered.
A video posted on social media showed the MNDAA’s flag raised on the major border gate for trade between Myanmar and China.
The first junta battalion to surrender to the Brotherhood Alliance did so two days after the launch of Operation 1027. Forty-one junta troops from Light Infantry Battalion 143 left their weapons and abandoned their base in northern Shan State’s Kunlong Township on Oct. 30.
Another entire junta battalion, comprising more than 180 junta troops and police, raised the white flag in northern Shan State’s Konkyan Township on Nov. 12. The Brotherhood Alliance took their base, weapons, ammunition and rations.
A spokesperson for the MNDAA told The Irrawaddy that more than 100 members of militias allied with the junta had surrendered in Kokang Self-Administered Zone in November. The zone is located along the border with China in northern Shan State.
Junta troops who surrendered, as well as their family members, were given medical treatment and provided with necessities by the Brotherhood Alliance, the MNDAA said.
Nearly 200 junta personnel in Chin, Karenni [Kayah], Mon and Rakhine states and Bago and Sagaing and Magwe Regions have surrendered.
Thirty-eight junta troops surrendered during two days of fighting at Loikaw University, which was seized by allied resistance forces on Nov. 13, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) said.
Another 15 junta troops surrendered to the KNDF on Nov. 25, it said.
The Chinland Defense Force said at least eight police officers and two junta troops defected in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Nov. 29.
At least 40 junta troops, along with their family members, surrendered as allied ethnic forces attacked and seized Yezau town in Chin State on Nov. 29.
In Bago Region, allied resistance forces captured Mone Town after launching attacks on two junta battalions, resulting in the surrender of 19 junta troops on Dec. 3.
In Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw Township, 28 junta troops surrendered after suffering heavy losses in the clashes with resistance forces on Nov. 13.
About 140 police stations and junta bases have been abandoned in Rakhine State and 22 police officers have surrendered to the Arakan Army, it said.
More than 30 junta personnel in Sagaing and Magwe regions defected or surrendered in November, resistance forces said.
The civilian National Unity Government claims that nearly 15,000 junta soldiers, police officers and pro-junta militia members have switched sides and taken refuge in the “people’s embrace” since the 2021 military coup.
It and ethnic resistance groups continue urging junta troops to surrender or defect. They have assured them that they will be safe and will receive support.
