Myanmar rebels claim control of northern town on Chinese border
An alliance of Myanmar rebels claims it controls a town along the volatile northern border with China after weeks of fighting with junta troops.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance, as the group is known, said it took over Laukkai, capital of the Kokang region, after the military’s regional headquarters surrendered.
The fall of Laukkai is the latest victory in an offensive by rebels that began in October and has become the most significant threat to Myanmar’s military government since it seized power in a 2021 coup.
“All Kokang region has become a land with no Myanmar Military Council any more,” the alliance said on Friday.
Government spokesman Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun told the Popular News Journal, a pro-army website, on Saturday that the military relinquished control of Laukkai after considering many aspects, including the safety of the families of the soldiers stationed there. The military also took into consideration Myanmar’s relationship with China, which is just across the border from the town, he said.
The alliance comprises three groups with extensive fighting experience – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army.
They were accompanied by members of the loosely organised People’s Defence Force, supported by Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government, suggesting that the rebellion is becoming better organised.
Armed conflict between the military and rebel groups has surged in Myanmar’s north since late October.
China, which has helped to facilitate dialogue between the two sides, has called for a ceasefire. The surrender of the town “marks the first regional operation command to fall”, political analyst Ye Myo Hein said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“The surrender of 2,389 military personnel in Laukkai, including six brigadier general commanders, marks the largest surrender in the history of Myanmar’s military,” he said.
Myanmar’s military has more than a dozen regional operation commands across the country.