More than 30 years of control by Myanmar’s military has ended in the Konkyan Township of northern Shan State after an entire battalion of junta troops on Tuesday surrendered its base in the area to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the ethnic army said.
The township is in the north of Kokang Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan State.
“The victory is bigger than what we expected. We believe the military dictatorship of regime boss Min Aung Hlaing must be ended. We will keep fighting for that,” MNDAA spokesperson Le Kyar Wen told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
All 186 soldiers in Light Infantry Battalion 125 – along with junta police officers and pro-regime militia members and 86 family members of miliary troops – surrendered to the MNDAA and gave the army their base.
The surrender followed five days of fighting in which the MNDAA attacked and seized a number of smaller junta military bases in the area.
The battalion’s commander raised the white flag along with one of his soldiers on Tuesday. He asked the MNDAA to provide medical treatment for injured soldiers and to resettle their family members after they surrendered their weapons and base, according to the MNDAA.
On Monday, the head of Operation Command Headquarters 16 and about 100 junta troops fled attacks and abandoned another major base in the area.
Regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said on Wednesday that junta troops had to relocate to ensure the safety of their families in Konkyan Township.
Three entire military battalions have surrendered to the Brotherhood Alliance since it launched Operation 1027 across northern Shan State on Oct. 27. Its three members are the MNDAA, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army.
Le Kyar Wen said many other regime troops had surrendered individually or in small groups since the launch of the offensive.
On Nov. 12, Light Infantry Battalion 129’s entire force of 127 soldiers surrendered by transferring their base in northern Shan State’s Laukkaing Township, weapons and ammunition to the MNDAA and its allies.
Each regime soldier was given 1 million Kyats (about US$ 475) and evacuated to safety by the Brotherhood Alliance.
On Oct. 30, 41 troops from Light Infantry Battalion 143 also surrendered to MNDAA in northern Shan State’s Kunlong Township.
The regime has lost nearly 300 bases, over a dozen towns and control of the main trade routes between Myanmar and China since the launch of Operation 1027.
