Sources close to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) told DVB that it has retreated from the remaining areas of Lashio Township, which was handed over to the regime on April 22, as well as Hsipaw Township in northern Shan State on Wednesday.

“The MNDAA does not want to engage in conflict with other ethnic armed groups,” Peng De Jun, the MNDAA deputy commander–in-chief, told the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) during a meeting in Lashio’s Thanlwin village on June 17, where MNDAA and SSPP leaders met to resolve territorial disputes. 

A Lashio resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the SSPP and the MNDAA did not agree over the control of territory and natural resources in Lashio and Hsipaw townships, which are located 134-179 miles (215-288 km) north of the SSPP headquarters in Wanhai village, southern Shan, and 162 miles (260 km) southwest of Laukkai Township in the MNDAA-controlled Kokang Self-Administered Zone of northern Shan. 

The SSPP partially controls Mongyai and Tangyan townships in northern Shan, which are technically under regime control but were handed to the United Wa State Army (UWSA) by the Brotherhood Alliance during Operation 1027. The UWSA invited SSA troops into Mongyai and Tangyan in order “to prevent conflict” in July 2024.

The SSPP also claims partial control of Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Nawnghkio and Namkham townships, which were seized by the MNDAA and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) from December 2023 to July 2025.

Fighting between the MNDAA and the SSA took place after Hsenwi and Lashio were seized by the Brotherhood Alliance from regime forces in March 2024.    

Fighting resumed in April after the MNDAA ordered the SSA to remove its troops from an outpost near the Namma coal mines in Hsipaw, which is located 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Lashio.  

Leaders from both sides discussed the territorial dispute in April, but didn’t reach any agreement to end the hostilities.  

Eight MNDAA troops were killed during fighting with the SSA in Lashio on June 1. 

The SSPP and MNDAA are the members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), a coalition of seven ethnic armed organizations that did not sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). 

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the TNLA are members of FPNCC, which was established on April 19, 2017.