{"id":7901,"date":"2025-10-02T00:11:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T17:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=7901"},"modified":"2025-10-02T00:11:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T17:41:36","slug":"the-latest-battlefield-picture-in-northern-shan-and-the-back-and-forth-fight-for-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/10\/the-latest-battlefield-picture-in-northern-shan-and-the-back-and-forth-fight-for-towns\/","title":{"rendered":"The latest battlefield picture in Northern Shan\u2014and the back-and-forth fight for towns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 September 30 View<\/h1>\n

(MoeMaKha), October 1, 2025<\/p>\n

The latest battlefield picture in Northern Shan\u2014and the back-and-forth fight for towns<\/h2>\n

In recent days one headline has dominated the news: the battle to seize Kyaukme<\/strong>. After years of face-to-face fighting around Taung Kham<\/strong>, the junta\u2019s forces took the initiative once they recaptured Naungcho<\/strong>, pushing west along the Union Highway toward Kyaukme. By September 30<\/strong> they had advanced to within about a mile of the town. Following the fall of Naungcho, villages between Naungcho and Kyaukme\u2014such as Naungpain<\/strong> and Khaikhtone Hsone<\/strong>\u2014saw successive clashes, with the Ta\u2019ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)<\/strong> yielding ground. The latest situation suggests TNLA is preparing to pull out of Kyaukme.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s reports focus on fires in Kyaukme at several sites: the district administration office<\/strong>, the USDP (Union Solidarity and Development Party) office<\/strong>, the fire department<\/strong>, a police post<\/strong>, and the immigration office<\/strong>. Since yesterday afternoon, video clips and photos of buildings ablaze have spread across social media; in one clip, residents watch nervously, fearing the flames will spread to nearby homes.<\/p>\n

In war, a withdrawing force often uses scorched-earth<\/strong> tactics to deny the enemy facilities and supplies; many therefore assume TNLA torched these locations before pulling back. Some outlets, however, report that junta troops started the fires with incendiary munitions<\/strong>, while others simply note that certain sites are burning without stating a cause. A few cite locals who say the fires were arson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Photos of the blaze at the fire station show no blast damage to roofs or structures typical of an air-strike; instead, a fire engine<\/strong> burning on the ground floor with flames spreading to the rear building\u2014details that look more like arson than a bombing.<\/p>\n

Urban capture battles regularly bring civilian harm: residents unable to flee are killed or wounded; at times armed groups beat or execute people on suspicion; when most townsfolk evacuate, looting and house-burning occur; while in other places those who stay behind risk their homes and property to prevent loss. In Kawkareik<\/strong> (Karen State), for example, some residents continued living in town amid active fighting.<\/p>\n

From late 2023<\/strong> onward, resistance forces seized over 100 towns<\/strong> (including bases, operation commands, and regional HQs) previously held by the military. In 2025<\/strong>, around ten<\/strong> of those towns have been retaken by junta forces, leaving 90-plus<\/strong> still out of the regime\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

The Kyaukme episode underscores a pattern of see-saw town offensives<\/strong> between the resistance and the junta. For civilians who rely on towns to live and trade, this means repeated casualties, loss of property, livelihoods and capital\u2014hardships that can breed doubts about whether such fighting truly benefits the revolution and can sap morale.<\/p>\n

During the first and second waves of Operation 1027<\/strong>, people in the affected areas endured the costs with a sense of future hope and largely kept their counsel. But in this current, back-and-forth phase of town battles, there is a real risk that public support<\/strong>\u2014material and moral\u2014for the armed struggle will decline.<\/p>\n

Town-seizure operations may be an unavoidable stage<\/strong> on the path to defeating the junta and ending military rule. Yet in a people-based armed struggle\u2014without<\/strong> robust backing from powerful foreign states\u2014planners must also weigh the public\u2019s tolerance and capacity to endure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is time to re-examine how far these town-capture campaigns actually advance victory: are they strategically decisive, or primarily aimed at demonstrating success<\/strong> and securing tax revenue and manpower<\/strong> from newly held areas?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 September 30 View (MoeMaKha), October 1, 2025 The latest battlefield picture in Northern Shan\u2014and the back-and-forth fight for towns In recent days one headline has dominated the news: the battle to seize Kyaukme. After years of…<\/p>\n

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