The Myanmar military regime said Thursday it had regained full control of the district-level town of Kyaukme in northern Shan State from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), following a 21-day counteroffensive.
Regime military columns managed to penetrate Kyaukme from several directions, engaging in fierce clashes with TNLA troops before taking complete control of the town on Wednesday, according to sources on the ground.
Several government buildings burned during Tuesday’s fighting, including the police station and fire service office.
Pro-junta groups and regime-affiliated media widely reported that the buildings had been torched by retreating TNLA troops. But witness accounts from locals, including videos shared by residents, indicated that the buildings caught fire after being bombed by drones.
A journalist on the ground in Kyaukme wrote on Facebook Tuesday that the regime was dropping firebombs on buildings to prevent TNLA troops from taking cover in them.
The regime said that during the counteroffensive, its troops engaged in a total of 112 clashes with the TNLA and its allies, during which it recovered the bodies of 61 enemy troops and seized 41 weapons along with ammunition. Some regime troops were injured, it said.
It said it would swiftly “rehabilitate” the town, and that residents aged 18 and above would be able to exercise their right as citizens to participate in its election, the first phase of which is scheduled to be held on Dec. 28.
Kyaukme, located on a vital China-Myanmar border trade route, was seized by the TNLA on Aug. 5, 2024, during the second phase of Operation 1027.
The town lies on the trade route between Nawnghkio and the northern Shan State capital of Lashio, which was handed back to the junta by the TNLA-allied Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in April, amid intense pressure from China. The TNLA’s next stronghold on the trade route is Hsipaw, an hour east of Kyaukme.
The regime recaptured Nawnghkio from the TNLA in July and began targeting Kyaukme in August.
The Brotherhood Alliance of three ethnic armies—the TNLA, the MNDAA and Rakhine State’s Arakan Army (AA)—launched Operation 1027 along with several other resistance groups in October 2023, eventually seizing most of northern Shan State including the key trade routes with China.
