Myanmar’s military says recaptured 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 kilometres 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 December 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.