The military administration of Myanmar has admitted that it pulled out its troops from a strategic city on its northeastern border with China after an alliance of ethnic armed groups it had been fighting for months took control of it.
Since the ethnic alliance began an onslaught on October 27, Myanmar’s military government has suffered a number of setbacks, the largest of which was the loss of Laukkaing late on Thursday. It highlights the difficulties the government is facing as it fights armed organizations affiliated with ethnic minorities across the nation and pro-democracy rebels following a military coup in 2021.
While ethnic armed groups have long fought for further autonomy, since the army overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021 and sparked armed resistance across the country by pro-democracy forces, Myanmar has been plunged into what has effectively become a civil war.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army make up the Three Brotherhood Alliance that captured Laukkaing. The Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese, have a military unit called the MNDAA.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the Myanmar government, told the pro-army Popular News Journal on Saturday that the military and its local commanders gave up control of Laukkaing after taking into account a number of factors, including the security of the soldiers’ families who were stationed there.
After artillery munitions struck its territory on Wednesday and injured five persons, Beijing protested. According to Zaw Min Tun, the alliance launched the rounds and attempted to harm its relations with China by blaming the military.
Social media users posted videos that allegedly showed the troops and their families being driven in different cars.
The MNDAA commander, Peng Deren, claimed that the alliance had taken control of five border crossings with China in addition to over 250 military targets in a New Year’s speech that was carried by The Kokang, a connected internet media outlet. He said that over 40,000 Chinese participants in the activities were repatriated after more than 300 cyberscam facilities were busted.
