Fighters from Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups are continuing to fight in an attempt to enter a town that is home to a regional military headquarters, one of the militant leaders said on Saturday.
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Gen. Thar Boon Kyaw, head of the Hta’ang National Liberation Army, told AFP that troops were “surrounding” Lashio, a town in northern Shan state that is home to the junta’s Northeastern Command.
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Clashes first erupted on Wednesday when ethnic fighters invaded the area.
At least 16 civilians have been killed since fighting erupted in Lashio, a member of a local volunteer group helping to treat the wounded and bury the dead, told AFP on Saturday.
“There is heavy fighting around the town,” the rescue worker said. “The fighting is still ongoing.”
“I heard they came into town from the south yesterday.”
Lashio is located on the main highway that runs from Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, to China’s Yunnan province.
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A Yangon airport official told AFP earlier this week that flights to the city from the commercial hub Yangon had been cancelled since Wednesday morning.
Ethnic armed groups known as the “Three Brothers Alliance” launched attacks on the army near Lashio and along the border with China in October last year.
Thaboun Kyaw said ethnic armed groups were also making progress in their fight against junta forces in the town of Mogok, west of Lashio.
“The west is secured,” the general said of Mogok, surrounded by hills rich in semi-precious stones such as rubies, sapphires, spinels and aquamarines.
“We are trying to take over the East.”
Allied forces seized vast swathes of territory and lucrative border crossings, dealing the junta its biggest blow since seizing power in 2021.
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China brokered a ceasefire in January between the military and an alliance made up of the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Union Army and the TNLA.
But late last month, the TNLA launched new attacks in Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region.
Myanmar’s border regions are home to numerous ethnic armed groups, many of which have been fighting the military for autonomy and control of lucrative resources since independence from Britain in 1948.
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