Myanmar's military says it has recaptured a key central town from ethnic rebels

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military has taken back control of a major district capital in Shan State more than a year after losing it to an armed ethnic minority rebel group, state media reported on Thursday.

The recapture of Kyaukme, about 115 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, is the latest setback suffered by the ethnic militias fighting the army. Its fall could not be independently confirmed because the military does not allow journalists free access to the area, but the claim has not been challenged.

The military has stepped up activity in recent months, on the ground and with airstrikes, to retake areas controlled by the resistance ahead of elections it has promised to hold beginning Dec. 28.

Kyaukme, which sits on a major highway trading route linking central Myanmar to China, had since August last year been under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed groups.

A report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper said Kyaukme was completely captured by the army on Wednesday afternoon after a three-week operation to retake it. The report, which published photos of soldiers in key points of the town, said the military was working to restore the town’s administrative functions and ensure the safe return of residents who had fled to avoid fighting.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army did not immediately respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment, though on the Telegram messaging platform on Wednesday, it accused the military of attacking Kyaukme with airstrikes and heavy weapons, setting official buildings on fire and triggering fierce fighting in nearby villages.

The members of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which also include the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, and the Arakan Army, have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. They are loosely allied with the People’s Defense Force, the pro-democracy resistance that emerged to fight military rule after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Beginning in October 2023, the alliance’s members captured and controlled significant swaths of territory in northeastern Myanmar near the Chinese border and in western Myanmar.

However, their offensive in Shan State slowed following a series of China-brokered ceasefires earlier this year, allowing the army to retake major cities, including Lashio in April, and Nawnghkio, adjacent to Kyaukme, in July.