Junta steps up attacks on TNLA-held towns in Shan State

By Admin 08 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

8 October 2025, Kyaukme, northern Shan State
 
Since Myanmar’s military regime recaptured Kyaukme town, it has intensified attacks on the remaining townships held by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), leading to increasing civilian casualties.
 
A junta jet fighter dropped two 250-pound bombs and two rocket-propelled grenades on Mongngot town around 11 a.m. on October 8, without there being any fighting in the area, killing two locals and wounding two others.
 
A junta aircraft dropped two 250-pound bombs on Manhong Village in Monglone Township on Tuesday, killing 10 people, including a child, and injuring three others.
 
The TNLA issued a statement saying that the military regime bombed Hsipaw and Namtu on the full-moon day of Thadingyut on October 6, injuring three people including a child.
 
Military observers believe the military regime’s current offensive is aimed at Hsipaw and is also exerting military pressure via airstrikes on non-military areas.
 
“In northern Shan State, the junta troops’ advance is getting closer to Hsipaw Town,” said Captain Zin Yaw, a participant in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). “The military regime is conducting airstrikes to prevent the TNLA from establishing a ground defence. The military regime is also conducting airstrikes in Namtu and Mongngot, which are not military areas. The military regime is in a position to regain control of Hsipaw sooner or later, like Kyaukme and Nawnghkio.”
 
If the regime gains full control of Hsipaw, it may press China to hold talks with the TNLA, and analysts believe that such talks could lead to the military regime making unilateral demands.
 
During talks between the military regime and the TNLA in August, the latter offered to return Kyaukme and Hsipaw to the former. The regime responded by saying it would take over the remaining towns except Namsang and Mantong, and included Kyaukme and Hsipaw in the list of townships where elections would be held.
 
“The military regime is attacking northern Shan State, especially TNLA-controlled areas, mainly to gain full control of the trade route with China and to hold elections,”  said a former political prisoner. “The reason the military regime has been able to retake TNLA-controlled towns so quickly is because China is pressuring the revolutionary forces, and the military regime’s expanded use of drones and intelligence.”
  
As the military regime attempts to retake TNLA-controlled townships through airstrikes, local residents have been left in a state of insecurity.
 
The TNLA claims that the military regime is openly committing war crimes by using airstrikes and heavy weapons against civilians and non-military targets.