The Burmese junta is engaged in fighting of an intensity not seen since the 2021 coup, in the north of Shan State, an isolated but strategic region which borders the Chinese province of Yunnan.
“The government will launch counter-offensives,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech on Thursday (November 2) in the capital Naypyidaw to military government officials. The general, quoted by the Global New Light of Myanmar, said the army would respond to this week’s attack on army camps by ethnic armed groups in the north of the country.
An alliance of three ethnic groups, long-time opponents of the army, claimed Thursday the takeover of dozens of military positions, four towns and roads leading to China, Burma’s main trading partner.
This union, formed by the Taaung National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance (MNDAA), is capable of mobilizing at least 15,000 troops, according to analysts . Min Aung Hlaing also accused the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), another ethnic group operating in neighboring Kachin state, of attacking “transport infrastructure” and military camps. The head of the junta warned of possible reprisals against them.
Concern about China
The fighting worries China, which called for an “immediate” ceasefire on Thursday after the junta confirmed the loss of a border town, Chinshwehaw. Shan State is notably home to a multibillion-dollar TGV project as part of the new Silk Roads policy promoted by Beijing.
More than a dozen armed ethnic groups operate in the border regions of Burma, fighting for political autonomy and control of natural resources. Some of them trained and equipped the armed groups made up of political opponents who spread across the country after the 2021 coup and the military repression that followed.
The trickle of access to means of communication, in a region dominated by the jungle, makes any effort to verify the number of victims difficult. The United Nations said Monday that the clashes had displaced more than 6,000 people in the region.
