In this image released on July 16, 2025, by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, soldiers are seen celebrating a victory at one of the captured outposts in Nawnghkio. Photo: The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP
MYANMAR’S military has recaptured a strategic gateway town from rebel forces after nearly a year, state-media reported on Thursday.
Nawnghkio, which sits on a major motorway linking central Myanmar to China, had been under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
Its recapture by the army comes after a long period where the military government had been seen as being on the defensive against an array of rebel forces in the civil war that is being fought over much of the country.
Nawnghkio was completely captured by the army at noon on Wednesday after nearly 11 months of operations to retake the town, according to a state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper report on Thursday.
The TNLA said in a statement this week that it had moved its civil administration and service offices in Nawnghkio to safe locations as the military's intensive offensive operations in the past few months made it difficult to carry out work.
