BANGKOK– Recently renewed combat In northeastern Myanmar between military government troops and ethnic minority militias has become more complicated in recent days, when two minority groups that had not previously participated in the fighting entered the fray, claiming to act as a third force for the stability.
The intervention of the powerful combat forces of the United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army-North highlights the tensions between the different guerrilla groups of ethnic minorities who have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government.
While many of the groups have alliances with pro-democracy resistance forces that emerged to fight the military regime after the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi In 2021, they prioritize their own objectives, which include control of the territory.
The focus of each group is now on Lashio, which is about 210 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city and headquarters of the northeastern military command of Myanmar’s ruling generals.
Two ethnic armed groups, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), had been advancing last week Lashio, the largest city in northern Shan State. The TNLA represents the Ta’ang or Palaung ethnic minority, and the MNDAA is a military force of the ethnic Chinese Kokang minority.
The two groups had been part of the Alliance of the Three Brotherhoods, which last October launched a surprise offensive that managed to seize large swaths of territory along the border with China. The current fighting that began last month marked the end of a Chinese-brokered ceasefire that nominally halted fighting between the military and the alliance.
But the United Wa State Army and Shan State Army-North, which did not participate in the October offensive, late last week moved their own soldiers to the Lashio area, apparently preventing the TNLA offensive and the MNDAA.
The United Wa State Army announced that it had sent about 2,000 soldiers on Thursday to Tangyan, a township bordering Lashio, which had been attacked by the TNLA. Tangyan is believed to be home to a large number of ethnic Wa.
The Wa Army is the largest and strongest ethnic armed organization in Myanmar, with an army of approximately 30,000 well-equipped soldiers and sophisticated weaponry including heavy artillery and helicopters from China, with which it maintains close relations.
Nyi Rang, the group’s liaison officer, told The Associated Press in a message Friday that the move was aimed at preventing the armed conflict from spreading to the city. She said the Wa group had negotiated with the military government at the request of residents before deploying its troops.
The Northern Shan State Army sent more than 1,000 soldiers on Friday and Saturday to nearby Mongyai township, where the MNDAA has been fighting the Myanmar army. The Shan consider Mongyai to be in their sphere of influence, which should not be taken over by another group.
The group issued a statement through its affiliated media on Facebook stating that it had sent troops for the stability of the region and the safety of the people.
“It is the region we had dominated,” Colonel Sai Su, a spokesman for the group, was quoted as saying in the report. “That’s why we did it to prevent the city from falling into the hands of other organizations and keep it under the administration of the Shan State Army. People also asked us to protect them.”
Two residents of Mongyai, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told the AP on Sunday that their area was calm after the deployment of Shan troops. One said that Wa troops were also stationed nearby.
All ethnic armed groups involved in the situation in Shan State maintain close relations with China. Last October’s offensive is widely believed to have had Beijing’s tacit approval because of its growing dissatisfaction with the military government’s apparent indifference to the flourishing drug trade along its border and the proliferation of centers in Myanmar where Cyber scams are carried out, with workers trafficked from China and other places. in the region.
Beijing has made clear that it strongly supports cracking down on fraudsters. Tens of thousands of fraudulent operations employees were repatriated to China, while the MNDAA, which assisted in that effort, was allowed to retake a major border city it had once controlled.
However, China’s primary interest in the area is maintaining stability, which is endangered by new fighting. so it is likely to support efforts like those being carried out by the Wa and Shan to stop the TNLA and MNDAA.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
