Myanmar military, insurgents battle over port town

Myanmar military soldiers who have surrendered to the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force ride in the back of a vehicle in Loikaw, Myanmar, in this still image taken from video released on Nov 16, 2023. - Reuters

YANGON: Myanmar's military has launched attacks from the air and the sea to recapture a port town on the Bay of Bengal, an opposition alliance said on Friday (Nov 17), as junta forces face the fiercest offensive from their enemies in years.

The military, which seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup, is battling a coordinated offensive launched last month by an alliance of three ethnic minority insurgent groups, as well as allied pro-democracy fighters who have taken up arms since the coup.