Myanmar junta troops on Monday pushed to within four kilometers of Kyaukme, a northern Shan State town held by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), according to residents.
The regime launched its counteroffensive on August 21, one year after the ethnic TNLA seized the town.
Earlier, junta troops recaptured neighboring Nawnghkio from the TNLA on July 16.
Two columns are advancing on Kyaukme: one from Hkomone village on the Mandalay-Muse road, 4 kilometers from the town, and the other from Mine Tine village on the Mogoke-Kyaukme road, 9 km away.
“They have reached Hkomone,” a local source told The Irrawaddy on Monday. “Another battle is ongoing between the villages of Sakhanthar and Mine Tine, where junta forces have launched an attack.”
On Sunday, junta aircraft dropped three chemical bombs on Longwei village in Kyaukme Township, the TNLA said. Three TNLA fighters who inhaled smoke from the bombs are being treated in hospital for dizziness, nausea, and hyperventilation.
That same day, the TNLA withdrew from its position near Mine Tine after dozens of villagers dismantled its roadblock in an effort to prevent junta airstrikes, according to Shwe Phee Myay News Agency, a local news outlet covering Ta’ang ethnic affairs.
The report said the armed Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) had led the push for the TNLA to withdraw. The SSPP’s Colonel Naw Laik denied knowledge of the case when contacted by The Irrawaddy.
Kyaukme now stands almost empty as the fighting nears.
“Most Kyaukme residents have already abandoned the town. The markets are still open but practically deserted,” a local said.
Kyaukme lies on the road between Nawnghkio and the northern Shan capital of Lashio, which was handed back to the junta by the TNLA-allied Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) following Chinese pressure in April.
The TNLA’s next stronghold on the road is Hsipaw, an hour east of Kyaukme.
Nawnghkio and Lashio are among 102 townships where the junta has scheduled elections for December 28.
Ahead of the polls, it has imposed martial law on Kyaukme and other towns in northern Shan State seized by the MNDAA, TNLA, and Arakan Army during Operation 1027.
