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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 26 July 2024
Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar claim capture of regional

military headquarters and gem mining center

By GRANT PECK ing the earlier Three Brother-
Associated Press hood Alliance offensive, but
BANGKOK (AP) — Ethnic the Lashio headquarters is
armed groups claimed on more important.
Thursday to have captured The MNDAA statement said
two strategically important its claimed capture of Lashio,
towns in northeastern Myan- about 110 kilometers (70
mar: Lashio, which houses miles) south of the Chinese
the major regional military border, was a “historic victo-
headquarters, and Mogok, ry.” However, Maj. Gen. Zaw
the center of the country’s lu- Min Tun, the spokesperson of
crative gem-mining industry. the ruling military council,
Their fall would be the big- said in a message sent to
gest in a series of setbacks the journalists on Thursday
suffered by Myanmar’s mili- that the claims of the cap-
tary government this year, ture of the military command
and raises questions about headquarters were untrue.
whether the ruling military He said the insurgents had
council could be forced to infiltrated some neighbor-
give up trying to hold con- hoods on the outskirts of the
tested territory in order to city, and the army is fighting
consolidate a defense of Army officers stand guard as police officers patrol in Lashio, northern Shan State, Myanmar, on to clear them out.
the central heartland. May 29, 2013. Associated Press “The loss of Lashio would be
The ruling military council de- a major strategic blow for the
nied its Lashio headquarters National Democratic Alli- ousted the elected govern- lations with both groups, regime,” Morgan Michaels,
had been taken over, and ance Army, and the TNLA, ment of Aung San Suu Kyi in as well as with the military a Singapore-based analyst
two town residents con- the Ta’ang National Libera- 2021. government, and above all with the International Institute
tacted by phone said fight- tion Army, since late June. The two armed groups are seeks stability in Myanmar, of Strategic Studies who runs
ing there was continuing. The MNDAA is a military force part of the Three Brother- which is a strategic ally. its Myanmar Conflict Map
Phone contact with Mogok of the Kokang minority, who hood Alliance, which last The MNDAA said in a state- project, said in an email. “The
has been cut off, but video are ethnic Chinese, and the October launched a surprise ment published Thursday on city is home to the Northeast
posted on social media ap- TNLA represents the Ta’ang, offensive that succeeded in its Facebook page that the Command and is the junta’s
peared to show residents or Palaung, ethnic minority. seizing large tracts of territory group had completely cap- last major line of defense in
cheering the arrival of ethnic The groups have been fight- along the northern border tured the military’s Northeast northern Shan State. There
guerrilla soldiers. ing for decades for greater with China. The current round Command headquarters in could be about 5,000 regime
Lashio, the biggest city in the autonomy from Myanmar’s of fighting marked an end to Lashio at 4 a.m. that morn- defenders in the city, so de-
northern part of Shan state, central government, and a January Chinese-brokered ing, after 23 days of the fight- pending on what happens
and Mogok, the ruby-mining are loosely allied with the cease-fire that nominally ing. to them – whether they with-
center in the upper Manda- People’s Defense Force, or stopped that fighting be- The MNDAA had captured a draw, surrender, or get de-
lay region, have been the PDF, the pro-democracy re- tween the alliance and the regional military headquar- stroyed—that could have an
targets of an offensive by sistance that arose to fight army for almost six months. ters in Laukkaing, a key city impact on the army’s overall
the MNDAA, the Myanmar military rule after the army Beijing maintains close re- on the Chinese border, dur- force posture as well.” q

NORAD says it tracked Chinese and Russian long-range bombers off Alaska

BEIJING (AP) — Two Chi- response, their joint aero- mand, known as NORAD, of the Bering Strait. Russian area beyond U.S. and Ca-
nese and two Russian space command said. said. China and Russia con- fighter jets and strategic nadian airspace in which
long-range bombers were The Chinese and Russian firmed Thursday that they bombers were joined by those countries require air-
tracked flying over interna- military activity Wednes- had conducted a joint air Chinese strategic bomb- craft to be identified for na-
tional waters near Alaska day was not seen as a patrol over the Bering Sea, ers in the exercises, which tional security reasons.
and U.S. and Canadian threat, the North American which divides Russia and lasted more than five hours, A photo released by the
fighter jets were sent up in Aerospace Defense Com- Alaska. the ministry said. Russian Defense Ministry
“NORAD will continue to The joint patrol tested and showed a Russian Su-30
monitor competitor activ- improved coordination be- fighter jet escorting a Chi-
ity near North America and tween the two air forces, nese bomber.
meet presence with pres- said Zhang Xiaogang, a Another photo posted on-
ence,” the command said spokesperson for China’s line by the military channel
in a news release. Defense Ministry. He said of China’s state broadcast-
While Russia’s military has it was the eighth joint stra- er CCTV showed Russian
long been active in the tegic air patrol since 2019. and Chinese long-winged
north Pacific, China has He declined to comment bombers flying in parallel
emerged as a new actor in when asked if it was the first formation against mostly
recent years as its growing such patrol over the Bering blue skies.
navy and air force expands Sea. The Japanese military has
their presence farther from NORAD said it had detect- grown increasingly con-
the country’s shores. ed the two Chinese H-6 cerned about joint China-
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense
Ministry Press Service on Thursday, July 25, 2024, A Tu-95 strategic The Russian Defense Minis- and two Russian Tupolev Russia drills and the poten-
bomber of the Russian air force is refueled in the air during a join try said the joint patrol also Tu-95 bombers in the North tial threat they represent to
Russia-China air patrol. flew over the Chukchi Sea, American U.S. Air Defense the security of Japan and
Associated Press which is on the north side Identification Zone, an the region.q