The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) told DVB that regime forces have reached Sakhantha village, located 8 miles (13 km) south of Kyaukme Township in northern Shan State, on Friday. Kyaukme, located 68 miles (109 km) southwest of the regional capital Lashio, was seized by the TNLA in August 2024.
“The military used airstrikes and drone strikes [against resistance forces],” Lway Yay Oo, the TNLA spokesperson, told DVB. Regime forces launched a counteroffensive to retake Kyaukme after it regained control of neighbouring Nawnghkio Township from the TNLA on July 16.
Lway Yay Oo added that fighting between the TNLA and regime forces, ongoing for over one month in Kyaukme, has now intensified.
Zin Yaw, a Myanmar Army defector who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after the 2021 military coup, told DVB that the regime sent reinforcements to Kyaukme from its Triangle Region Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Kengtung Township.
Kengtung is located 368 miles (592 km) southeast of Kyaukme and 281 miles (452 km) east of the Shan State capital Taunggyi.
Zin Yaw added that the regime’s counteroffensive will continue toward Hsipaw Township, in northern Shan, once Kyaukme is recaptured. Hsipaw is located 22 miles (35 km) east of Kyaukme and 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Lashio. It came under TNLA control in August 2024.
The regime Union Election Commission (UEC) has scheduled polls to be held in 38 of Shan State’s total 55 townships, including Kyaukme and Hsipaw. The regime scheduled elections will begin on Dec. 28 with polls being held in 274 out of Myanmar’s total 330 townships, according to the UEC.
The 10,000 residents are now facing shortages of food and medicine and urgently need assistance, according to aid workers. Around 9,000 people are taking refuge in more than 40 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kyaukme with nearly 500 sheltering on farms.
During talks between the regime and the TNLA in China, Naypyidaw demanded the surrender of all towns seized since Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, 2023. This does not include Manton and Namhsan, which are recognized as the Pa Laung Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution.
Three rounds of talks brokered by Beijing have failed between the regime and the TNLA, which has seized control of Momeik, Manton, Namtu, Kutkai, Naungkhio, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Namhsan, Monglon, Namhkam and Mongngaw townships in northern Shan, as well as Mogok in neighbouring Mandalay Region.
