The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) seized a junta military checkpoint at the entrance to Lashio, the largest town in northern Shan State, on Tuesday, breaking its unilateral ceasefire. The military regime responded with airstrikes on Wednesday, according to sources.
Junta soldiers and allied militias withdrew from the Mel Han checkpoint, some 8 kilometers west of Lashio on the Mandalay-Lashio road, on Tuesday evening following a fierce attack by the MNDAA.
The checkpoint was manned by personnel from a junta battalion based in Nawngmun village and militias from Lashio town. They have treated to the express bus terminal in Lashio.
Junta warplanes launched approximately 10 strikes around the checkpoint from 3.30 pm on Wednesday, a Lashio resident told The Irrawaddy.
“Fighter jets have been bombing for around 30 minutes. The military apparently believes that MNDAA troops are deployed around the checkpoint,” he said.
The bombs damaged a dozen buildings including filling stations near the checkpoint, he added.
The MNDAA on Sunday announced a four-day halt to its operations in northern Shan State while the Communist Party of China holds its third plenary session in Beijing.
Regime forces in Lashio continued to shell indiscriminately on Thursday, reportedly killing two civilians near the town hall.
The MNDAA and allied forces launched their Lashio offensive on July 3, advancing from two directions, along the roads from Muse and Mandalay. They have so far seized Infantry Battalion 291 based in Nampawng village, No. 11 Basic Military Training Corps, and four other junta positions including one at Lashio Technological University.
Junta troops manning the positions have retreated into Lashio town where the regime’s Northeastern Command is based.
After seizing the Mel Han checkpoint, MNDAA troops advancing along the Mandalay-Lashio road are focused on clearing several junta positions in Narmakaw that guard the entrance to No. 8 Zone of No. 1 ward in Lashio town.
On Tuesday the MNDAA issued video evidence that it had released family members of junta soldiers captured at No. 11 Basic Military Training Corps located 16 km west of Lashio town.
After occupying Lashio Technological University on the Muse road east of Lashio, MNDAA troops must tackle Light Infantry Battalion 68 to advance into the town.
The regime has been airlifting weapons and food supplies to Northeast Command daily, said residents.
On Tuesday, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said regime troops were attacking its positions in Kyaukme and Nawnghkio on the border of northern Shan State and Mandalay Region despite the armed group’s unilateral ceasefire.
The ethnic Brotherhood Alliance of the MNDAA and TNLA resumed phase two of Operation 1027 on June 25, seizing dozens more junta bases including 10 battalion headquarters and a town before calling the truce on Sunday.
Phase one of the operation ended in mid-January after China brokered a ceasefire between the Brotherhood Alliance and the junta’s military.
