Operation 1027 restarted in northern Shan State on Tuesday after Myanmar’s junta was accused of repeatedly breaching a Chinese-brokered ceasefire.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a member of the Brotherhood Alliance that launched the coordinated attacks in October last year, said on Tuesday that it had attacked junta forces at Kyauk Kyan village in Nawnghkio Township.
The junta responded with airstrikes, dropping four bombs and a civilian was shot dead in their vehicle, according to Shan media reports.
TNLA troops also attacked at Nyein Chan Yay hill in Kyaukme Township with two civilians killed and four injured as Kyaukme town was shelled, according to the media.
The TNLA also said it attacked junta forces at Pann Sa Pay village, Mogoke Township, in northern Mandalay Region.
Mogoke People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) said they are joining forces with the TNLA in Mogoke township.
Pyin Oo Lwin PDF warned civilians not to use the Mandalay-Mogoke road overnight and to stay away from regime forces. PDFs said they had attacked regime bases in Madaya Township on the Mandalay-Mogoke road on Tuesday.
Repeated junta drone attacks, airstrikes and shelling were reported on TNLA territory this month, killing three of the group’s troops and injuring four others.
A 10-year-old was killed and four civilians wounded and five houses and a monastery were destroyed in junta bombardments, said the TNLA.
Major General Tar Phone Kyaw, general secretary of the TNLA, on Monday threatened retaliation against the junta.
The Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, launched Operation 1027, named after its start date of October 27, against the junta in northern Shan State.
When China ended the fighting on January 10, the junta had lost 24 battalion headquarters and command centers and hundreds of frontline bases. It lost control of more than half of northern Shan State, including around 20 towns and vital trade routes to China.
Under China’s ceasefire deal, the Brotherhood Alliance agreed to stop its advances while the junta promised to end airstrikes and shelling.
