YANGON: Myanmar's junta and an ethnic minority armed group both claimed on Thursday (July 25) they were in control of a town and regional military command in northern Shan state following days of clashes.
Fighting has rocked the town of Lashio, home to the military's northeastern command, since July 3, when an alliance of ethnic armed groups renewed an offensive against junta troops.
Local media run by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) reported the group "fully captured the headquarters of the Northeast Military command in Lashio" on Thursday morning and also captured Lashio town, home to some 150,000 people
But junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told reporters the claim was "not true".
"The insurgents infiltrated the outskirts of Lashio so (the security forces) have been following and clearing them," he said, without giving details.
AFP was unable to reach a MNDAA spokesman for comment.
The northeastern command is located in the north of Lashio.
A video uploaded to social media claiming to have been shot in Lashio on Thursday morning showed deserted streets with no soldiers in sight.
AFP reporters have geolocated the video to a site in the town around 2km from the command.
Northern Shan state has been rocked by fighting since late last month, when an alliance of ethnic armed groups renewed an offensive against the military along the highway to China's Yunnan province.
The clashes have shredded a Beijing-brokered truce that in January halted an offensive by the alliance of the Arakan Army (AA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the MNDAA.
On July 10 TNLA fighters briefly captured a battalion command in Lashio, before junta air strikes forced them to retreat, one of its commanders told AFP at the time.
The military has carried out several air strikes around the town during the fighting, according to residents.
Dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded in the recent fighting, according to the junta and local rescue groups.
Neither the junta nor the ethnic alliance have released figures on their own casualties.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, but analysts say it also maintains ties with armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that hold territory near its border.
Myanmar's borderlands are home to myriad ethnic armed groups who have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 for autonomy and control of lucrative resources.
Some have given shelter and training to newer "People's Defence Forces" (PDFs) that have sprung up to battle the military after the coup in 2021. – AFP
