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Lashio still under Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army control despite reports of impending retreat

A member of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) administration in Lashio told DVB that the northern Shan State regional capital was still under its control on Thursday, denying media reports that its forces will withdraw by the end of June as stipulated in the China-brokered ceasefire agreement signed with the regime on Jan. 18. 

“There are no troop movements and everything is normal. But we cannot predict what will happen between now and June,” the official told DVB. Lashio is located 107 miles (172 km) south of the Myanmar-China border town of Muse, in northern Shan State, and 243 miles (391 km) north of the Shan State capital Taunggyi in southern Shan.

The Myanmar Now news agency reported that a “Chinese government delegate” announced the withdrawal of MNDAA forces from Lashio at a Lunar New Year festival opening ceremony on Tuesday. 

Media reports quoted an anonymous Chinese researcher “familiar” with negotiations that took place between the MNDAA and the regime in Kunming earlier this month, saying that the MNDAA would complete a phased withdrawal from Lashio before the end of June.

Residents of Lashio are celebrating the Lunar Chinese New Year, which ends in February. MNDAA forces have been conducting routine security patrols, according to a member of the Freedom Youth Volunteers, a Lashio-based humanitarian organization founded in 2021 after the military coup.

The MNDAA took full control of Lashio after it seized the Northeastern Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Aug. 3. The military has reportedly carried out over 30 airstrikes on Lashio since the town fell to MNDAA forces.

The regime and the MNDAA signed a formal ceasefire agreement during the second round of China-brokered talks in Kunming on Jan. 18

Details over whether areas under MNDAA control would remain under its control, including Laukkai in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone (SAZ), as well as the China-Myanmar border towns of Chinshwehaw, Monekoe, Hpawnghseng, Konkyan, Pan Lon, Kunlong, Hsenwi (Theinni), Tamoenye and Pang Hseng, were not made public.

Following the ceasefire, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) granted permission for the free passage of goods through “Wa State” – known officially as the Wa Self-Administered Division – to the Kokang SAZ townships of Konkyan and Laukkai in northern Shan State on Jan. 20.

But residents in most townships in northern Shan along the Myanmar-China border say that there has been no significant drop in the price of commodities.

“[China] has restricted the entry of electronics like computers and solar panels into Myanmar. Only oil, food and clothing are allowed, so the prices of oil and edible oils entering Lashio from China have slightly decreased,” said a Lashio resident. 

The prices of most food items at the markets near the Myanmar-China border have not decreased due to restrictions imposed at regime-controlled border gates, added the Lashio resident.

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