FRESH fighting has broken out in north-eastern Myanmar, bringing an end to a Chinese-brokered ceasefire in the civil war and putting pressure on the military regime as it faces attacks from resistance forces on multiple fronts.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of three powerful militias that launched a surprise joint offensive last October, renewed its attacks on regime positions in the north-eastern state of Shan last week.
The state borders China, Laos and Thailand, plus the neighbouring Mandalay region.
Since then, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has joined in. By today, combined forces from the two allied militias had reportedly encircled the strategically important city of Lashio, the headquarters of the regime’s north-eastern military command.
This is the next phase of October’s “1027” offensive, said Lway Yay Oo, spokeswoman for the TNLA, which said last week that the military had provoked retaliation by violating the ceasefire with artillery and air strikes.
“In phase two, our number one aim is the eradication of the military dictatorship and number two is the protection and safety of local people,” she said.
Thet Swe, a spokesman for the military regime, which seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, accused the militias of putting civilians in jeopardy by restarting the fighting.
“As the TNLA are starting to violate the ceasefire, the Tatmadaw [armed forces] are protecting the lives and the property of the ethnic people,” he said.
The TNLA claims to have already captured more than 30 army outposts.
China, which helped broker the ceasefire in January, is prepared to step back in to find a way to peace.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said it urged “all parties in Myanmar to earnestly abide by the ceasefire agreement, exercise maximum restraint, disengage on the ground as soon as possible and take practical and effective measures to ensure the tranquillity of the China-Myanmar border and the safety of Chinese personnel and projects.”
