Junta leader: Ethnic group offensive funded by drug trade

Members of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army pose for a photograph with the weapons allegedly seized from the Myanmar's army outpost on a hill in Chinshwehaw town, Myanmar, Saturday Oct. 28, 2023. The leader of Myanmar’s army-installed government said the military will carry out counter-attacks against a powerful alliance of ethnic armed groups that has seized towns near the Chinese border in the country’s northeastern and northern regions, state-run media reported Friday Nov. 3, 2023. ("The Kokang" online media via AP)

The head of Myanmar’s military government has charged that a major offensive in the country’s northeast by an alliance of armed ethnic minority organisations was funded in part by profits earned from the region’s lucrative drug trade, state-controlled media reported.

The allegation made by Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing came after his government was caught off guard by fierce fighting in several towns in the country’s northeastern border region.