Myanmar’s military junta has lost an important city to its opponents. The battles between the army and the coalition of ethnic groups have continued fiercely for almost three months.
The military junta of Myanmar, located in Southeast Asia, has taken a rare step and admitted that it has suffered a significant defeat.
The junta says its forces have withdrawn from the town of Laukkaing in the country’s northeast after it was taken over by an ethnic army group called the Three Brotherhood Alliance.
Laukkaing is located near the Chinese border in Kokang Autonomous Region in Shan State.
One of the ethnic armies has shared a social media video, which it says contains weapons confiscated from the military junta.
The alliance of the three brotherhoods consists of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army.
Taking over Laukkaing has been one of the main goals of the ethnic coalition. The coalition launched a major offensive against junta forces in late October.
The junta’s forces have suffered heavy losses. According to the ethnic alliance, at least 250 military sites and five border crossing points between Myanmar and China have been captured, and gaming centers on the border have been raided.
Shady gaming centers are frequented by Chinese people, and Chinese criminal gangs operate in them. China also wants to close the gaming centers, which is why some experts believe that China is giving at least tacit support to the ethnic groups that close the centers.
Soldiers and police have surrendered
The plight of Myanmar’s army is told, for example, by the fact that its soldiers have surrendered to the rebels.
According to opponents of the junta, there are almost 2,400 soldiers who have surrendered, and among them would also be soldiers who were in command positions. Police officers have also resigned from their duties.
The news agency Reuters met the man in the video of this story, who ran away from the police after being disappointed with their actions.
– People hated us policemen. The police started randomly arresting young people and beating them, the man says.
According to him, the police can beat a person for as long as he wants, as long as he stays alive.
The man says he started helping people escape from the police.
The third anniversary of the coup is approaching
Myanmar’s military junta seized full power in the country at the beginning of February 2021. Civilian leader, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in the 90s Aung San Suu Kyi was transported to prison.
Ethnic armies have been waging wars against the central government for decades, but in the past three years, the fighting has intensified and urban citizens defending democracy have also joined them. Young students are trained by ethnic armies in the jungles.
The alliance of the three brotherhoods consists of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army. In Shan State, meanwhile, there is an internal struggle for power between the MNDAA and its rival armed group.
Sources: Reuters, AP