A whole army battalion has surrendered to an ethnic resistance group in northern Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — A whole battalion of the Myanmar military stationed close to the Chinese language border has surrendered to a coalition of ethnic armed teams that launched a shock assault final month towards the army, a spokesman for one of many armed teams mentioned Wednesday.

The give up of 261 individuals – 127 troopers and 134 of their members of the family – from an infantry battalion in northeastern Shan State seems to be the biggest of its variety by common military forces since a large-scale armed battle broke out in Myanmar in 2021 after the military seized energy from elected officers. . The federal government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February of that yr.

The spokesman mentioned that the coalition expects to quickly seize Laokaing, the primary metropolis within the area.

The give up — which was not introduced by the army authorities and the Related Press can’t independently verify — got here two weeks after the Arakan Military, the Myanmar Nationwide Democratic Alliance Military and the Ta’ang Nationwide Liberation Military known as themselves the “Arakan Military” and the “Myanmar Nationwide Democratic Alliance Military.” and the Tang Nationwide Liberation Military. The Three Brotherhood AllianceHe launched a coordinated assault towards the army authorities on October 27.

The coalition has scored widespread victories, and the army authorities made a uncommon admission on November 2 that it had misplaced management of three cities, one in all which is a key border crossing for commerce with China.

The offensive within the northern a part of Shan State was seen as a significant problem for the military, which has struggled to comprise a nationwide rebellion by members of the Individuals’s Protection Forces, a pro-democracy armed group established after the army seized energy in 2021. Varied PDF teams working in Throughout the nation, well-organized and battle-hardened ethnic armed teams – together with these within the Three Brotherhood Alliance – have been preventing Myanmar’s central authorities for better autonomy for many years.

The army authorities confronted one other problem on Monday when the Arakan Military launched shock assaults on army targets in 5 townships in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. A one-year ceasefire was beforehand introduced within the state between the army authorities and the Arakan Military.

Lee Kyar Wai, spokesman for Myanmar’s Nationwide Democratic Alliance Military, instructed the AP on Wednesday that each soldier who surrendered in Shan State, together with the commander, was given 1 million kyats (about $480) and every of their members of the family was given 100,000 kyats. ($48).

“We’re offering medical therapy to the wounded. We’ve got safely delivered them to their desired vacation spot,” Li Kyar Wai mentioned, including that the coalition teams are planning to launch an operation quickly to grab Laokaing after besieging the town.

Laokaing is understood for internet hosting main organized crime enterprises, together with cyber scams managed by Chinese language traders in collaboration with native warlords in Myanmar.

In latest weeks, the Chinese language authorities has paid a Suppress these processesHundreds of individuals concerned had been returned to China. Many rip-off employees have been tricked into working for them after which held towards their will.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance had introduced that one of many objectives of its assault on October 27 was to eradicate fraud. Low Kyar Wai mentioned the coalition would rescue detainees in fraud facilities, arrest the individuals behind the operations and switch them to the related authorities, which he didn’t specify however possible meant Chinese language legislation enforcement officers.

The troopers who surrendered weren’t the primary to put down their arms to coalition teams in Shan State. On October 30, 41 troopers from one other infantry battalion stationed within the close by city of Kunlung surrendered to them. In whole, greater than 200 troopers and police have surrendered to coalition teams since October 31, the teams mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.

For the reason that offensive started final month, troopers and police have additionally surrendered in Karen, Kayah, Rakhine and Chin states and the Sagaing area, in response to ethnic armed teams and impartial native media.