Intense clashes occurred in three residential wards of northern Shan State’s capital Lashio on Saturday after the Brotherhood Alliance and its allies captured the headquarters of a junta frontline military battalion defending the city, residents of the city said.
The alliance and its allies launched offensives against junta hilltop bases in Lashio’s wards 5, 7 and 9 on Saturday morning, residents said.
The attacks inside the city followed the capture of the headquarters of Light Infantry Battalion 291 south of Lashio on Saturday after junta troops abandoned it on Friday night and fled to the city, Lashio residents and Shan media reports said.
Resistance drones drop bombs during an attack on the headquarters of junta Infantry Battalion 291 in Nampawng village south of Lashio before it was abandoned on Friday night. / Facebook page of Jai Fon Mong
The battalion headquarters is a strategic frontline base defending Lashio located about 40 kilometers south of the town in Nampawng village.
The junta relied on airstrikes and shelling to defend the headquarters but failed. The bombardment killed civilians and destroyed homes and a hospital.
“There were heavy clashes in Nampawng village, but it is now a regime-free area. Regime troops retreated back to bases at Lashio,” a Lashio resident said.
Inside the city, explosives hit a monastery and homes in residential areas on Saturday morning, injuring civilians and damaging homes, Shan media reported.
Videos posted online show rescue groups and residents preparing to evacuate injured people after a vehicle of internally displaced persons and a restaurant in Lashio were hit by bombs.
Fighting has been occurring across Lashio Township since Tuesday night when members of the Brotherhood Alliance – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arkan Army – launched simultaneous attacks on regime bases around Lashio city.
The headquarters of the junta’s Northeastern Military command, located in central Lasho, is frequently being hit by bombs launched from rockets or dropped from drones as it shells battlefields outside the town, Shan media reported.
Thousands of Lashio residents began fleeing the town on Friday after about a dozen civilians were killed by shelling on Wednesday and Thursday.
Most residents, however, remain in their homes or are sheltering at monasteries and in buildings on construction sites, rescue workers say.
The Brotherhood Alliance has not yet officially commented on its renewed offensive on Lashio.
It launched Operation 1027 against regime positions in northern Shan State in October last year, swiftly capturing 24 battalion headquarters, hundreds of frontline bases, around 20 towns, and vital trade routes with China before a ceasefire was brokered on January 10 by Beijing.
Before the ceasefire, the alliance had already encircled Lashio.
The TNLA resumed the operation on June 15, saying the junta violated the ceasefire by repeatedly bombing territory it controlled.
It has been joined by resistance groups outside the alliance, including the Mandalay People’s Defense Force under the civilian National Unity Government. Together, they are attacking the regime’s military in Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Hsipaw and Mongmit townships in northern Shan State and Mogoke and Mandaya townships in upper Mandalay Region.
They have captured more than 30 regime bases, including battalion headquarters, and have taken control of Kyaukme and Nawnghkio towns as well as large parts of Mogoke in Mandalay.
