Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the military leader behind the coup in Myanmar, has acknowledged that his forces are under pressure after opposition groups claimed to have taken control of a significant military base in the northeastern city of Lashio. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), part of a powerful coalition of ethnic armed groups fighting to remove the military from power, announced that they had captured the headquarters of the Northeast Command over the weekend.
Although Min Aung Hlaing did not directly address the situation in Lashio, he indicated that “security forces retreated from their positions” in the northern Shan State for safety reasons and due to concerns for the security of local residents. The military chief’s statements were published in full in Tuesday’s official Global New Light of Myanmar. He accused the opposition groups of committing abuses, attacking civilians and military hospitals, and collaborating with “puppets at home and abroad” to demoralize the population. He also mentioned that their weapons, including drones, have become more sophisticated.
The military seized power in February 2021 from the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The coup sparked civil protests, which escalated into an armed rebellion as the military responded with force. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 5,500 civilians have been killed in the fighting while around 20,715 individuals have been imprisoned for criticizing the military. Human rights groups have also called for investigations into the military for potential war crimes in connection with attacks on civilians.
Lashio is located approximately 110 kilometers south of the Chinese border and has been a target for the MNDAA since they launched the second phase of Operation 1027 in early July. They had previously captured the border town of Laukkai, known for its crime and as the capital of the Mandarin-speaking Kokang region, in January. The armed alliance, which also includes the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (PDF), has claimed advancements and taken control of areas such as Mogok, famous for its lucrative ruby mines, as well as the towns of Kyaukme and Nawnghkio in northern Shan State.
On August 2, the MNDAA announced that they had completely captured the Northeast Command headquarters and defeated the remaining military units in the city. “The regime’s loss of the Northeast Command is the most humiliating defeat in the war,” said Morgan Michaels, an analyst at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, which runs the Myanmar Conflict Map project. “Without Lashio, it will be extremely difficult for the regime to hold on to their last strongholds in the region.”
The MNDAA is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the TNLA and the Arakan Army, fighting against the military in the western Rakhine State. Initially, the MNDAA claimed to have captured the Northeast Command and Lashio on July 25, but the military continued to fight back. Early on Monday, Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for Myanmar’s military council, announced in an audio statement on state-run MRTV that they had lost contact with commanders at the Northeast Command headquarters. He did not mention the MNDAA’s claim of having taken the base.
Myanmar’s military has 14 regional commands across the country, and soldiers in at least 10 of them are currently engaged in combat against established ethnic minority armed groups or the newer PDFs (People’s Defense Forces). The fall of the Lashio HQ marks the first loss of a regional command center.